Ram to target Ranger, Hilux with new 800km electric ute

July 9, 2021August 8, 2021 Toby Hagon 4461 Views

There will soon be a new Ram electric ute to take on the established big players such as the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.

Smaller than the 1500 that from 2024 will be available as an EV, the new Ram ute will go on sale in the next three to five years, so somewhere between 2024 and 2026.

Crucially, parent company Stellantis – the newly formed merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Citroen – has promised that by 2026 the “EV total cost of ownership will be equal to ICE”.

During the long-running EV Day, a spokesperson said EVs by 2026 would have a “similar total cost of ownership compared to conventional car without any government incentives”.

And the new Ram electric mid-sized ute will be capable of travelling up to 800km on a charge, riding on a new EV architecture to underpin vehicles as diverse as Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Peugeot.

“A new mid-size truck” was briefly referenced by Stellantis North American design chief Ralph Gilles during the presentation.

It will compete with the recently-announced electric version of the Ford Ranger and promised electrified versions of the Toyota Hilux.

The new yet-to-be-named Ram pickup truck will be mid-sized, which to the Americans is what we would consider a sizeable ute: think Ranger, Hilux, Nissan Navara, Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50 and Mitsubishi Triton.

However, whereas those vehicles ride on truck-like ladder frame architectures – with big steel beams underpinning the car for strength and off-road capability – the new Ram mid-sized ute will ride on a more conventional EV construction also used under passenger cars and SUVs. Stellantis describes it as a unibody construction, which integrates the batteries into the structure and also incorporates other key components of the electrical system.

Stellantis has created eight new vehicles to be produced off its new STLA Large EV architecture. They will be released across various brands between 2024 and 2026 — Stellantis has created eight new vehicles to be produced off its new STLA Large EV architecture between 2024 and 2026. The new EV platform will eventually underpin 14 brands

The new architecture is called STLA Large, the STLA referencing parent company Stellantis.

STLA Large will initially underpin eight new models to be revealed across multiple Stellantis brands between 2024 and 2026. The automotive giant showed off the basic shapes of the eight new EV arrivals under cover.

Stellantis design boss Ralph Gilles says the new architecture will eventually underpin every one of the 14 brands in the Stellantis stables: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram and Vauxhall.

“The STLA Large platform has outstanding fundamentals, with the batteries nice and low, the EDM motors at the edges, allowing for a variety of wheel sizes, suspension heights and widths.”

He said the design of the architecture allowed for almost unlimited design freedom.

Ram has comfirmed it will produce a new mid-sized EV pick-up truck (ute) to be released between 2024 and 2026

“All these components are out of the way, allowing us to do just about what we want on the top surface, allowing us to create a long-range luxury sedan, an all-conquering muscle car, a heart-of-the-market DUV, a heart-of-the-market SUV, a very capable Jeep off-roading white space opportunity vehicle, as well as a new mid-sized truck.”

It’s the mid-sized pickup that is one of the most interesting of that bunch.

Ford and Chevrolet already offer mid-sized utes in the United States and the focus has been on Ram – previously the Dodge Ram single model but now split out as a brand – as to how it would respond.

Stellantis has created a new EV architecture called STLA Large, which will be used under all 14 brands owned by the company including a new Jeep 4WD

The STLA architecture has been designed to take battery capacities ranging from 101kWh to 118kWh and will offer an EV range of up to 800km.

Ram CEO Mike Koval says capability – including off-road prowess, load capacity and towing capability are key for the new model.

“Research has shown truck customers are open to electrification, but are not willing to sacrifice power, performance or capability,” he said.

No word yet on whether the new electric Ram ute could come to Australia, although it’s on the radar.

“We are very excited by the commitment and focus Stellantis is putting on electrification as well as developing the most capable and sustainable four-wheel drive vehicles in the world,” said a Stellantis Australia spokesperson.

“We believe the demand and acceptance of electric vehicles will accelerate in Australia and New Zealand and we are currently looking at which products will work best for each country. We look forward to sharing our electrification plan in due course.”