RAM EV

[FishOnOne]

Looks like RAM is full in on the EV movement. One thing interesting is RAM followed Fords design logic in that their EV truck looks similar to their ICE truck, unlike GM made their EV trucks looks totally different than their ICE trucks.

Link

Link2

[blt2ski]

I used to get +2mpg with my 96 6.5TD towing my Bobcat trailer at 18K GCW vs my TT at 14-15K lbs gcw. All because of the additional 20 sq ft more frontal area. ALong with typically on a grade, I could be a bit faster, and a gear taller!
The max sq ft the current tow ratings is 80 sq ft. How many normal full height RV trailers have less than 80 sq ft of frontal area? So with that in mind, How many of you are over your tow ratings with your almighty ICE rigs? Thought so! QUite a few of you! as was I at 90 or so sq ft. Not to mention in that 96, I was over my gcwr per GM of 12500 due to the emanual tranny vs the POS 4L80E at 14500 gcwr!
Weight as mentioned is not a killer for mileage, wind resistance is MORE important than weight!
Just like generally speaking, a 5W with no bedroom slide, smooth fiberglass sidewalls will net the best MG at any given GCW vs other styles of trailers. AN airstream is close! Not quite. A tenth or two less mpg.

Marty

[Reisender]

Bionic Man wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Groover wrote:

otrfun wrote:
Interesting, 8 bolt axles/wheels and 2700 lbs. of payload. 14k tow capacity.

Also, the airbag suspension, I assume, probably has a "low-rider" mode which reduces drag to extend range on the freeway.

Pretty impressive. It'll be very interesting to see how far it can tow 14k though.

People seem to be obsessed with the impact of trailer weight on range. My experience has been that a flatbed heavily loaded with firewood or dirt has less impact on fuel economy than an empty box trailer. Hence, it is air drag that kills range. Yes, weight does hurt range some with ICE vehicles but that is mostly due to increased use of mechanical brakes turning momentum into waste heat. An EV designed for towing will turn most of that momentum into electricity and put it back into the battery for re-use.

Range studies need to focus more on air drag and towing speeds, not weight. The auto makers know this and their towing tests are conducting with trailers having large air dams on the trailer giving consistent air drag results. The major testers like TFL need to get trailers of this sort. Auto makers rate their vehicles for max frontal area in addition to weight. Most people on this site seem to be unaware of that rating.

Yah. There are a whack load of electric SUV and electric half ton owners towing A-liners or other pop ups that have good results with towing. As soon as the profile gets higher the range falls off pretty quick. I’m sure some RV manufacturers in the future will pay more attention to this as the market develops.

How many units comprise “a whack load”? Because in all of my travels I’ve only seen one EV towing a trailer. That was a Tesla towing a 23’ wake boat in Boulder CO, and the owner said he tows from town a very short distance to the lake.

I’m not sure why you are so adamant in your defense of EVs as TVs. The simple fact is they aren’t ready for prime time for the vast majority of users, and won’t be for the foreseeable future.

A whack load? They are common here and the EV towing groups like them as well as other small trailers like smaller tear drops etc.

I’m not adamant about anything. EV’s make nice towing vehicles for a certain small type of trailer. EV’s are not suitable for medium or larger trailers. I have said that from day one. You may be confusing me with someone else.

Small trailers are common here, but that’s because a lot of the provincial parks and forestry sites don’t accommodate larger units. Nothing wrong with larger trailers, they are suited well to gas and diesel vehicles.

[time2roll]

Bionic Man wrote:
I’m not sure why you are so adamant in your defense of EVs as TVs. The simple fact is they aren’t ready for prime time for the vast majority of users, and won’t be for the foreseeable future.

Can people get excited about the additional capabilities of the EV RAM vs the competition without getting criticized?

Is there not enough anger over in the gas vs diesel thread?

[Grit_dog]

A “whack load” is a carefully calibrated and calculated sum of (vehicles or other objects) in lower mainland BC speak.
I think it’s equivalent to 6 or 9.
However given you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a Tesla in/around the Vancouver area, the calibration or calculation may have changed! Lol

[Bionic_Man]

Reisender wrote:

Groover wrote:

otrfun wrote:
Interesting, 8 bolt axles/wheels and 2700 lbs. of payload. 14k tow capacity.

Also, the airbag suspension, I assume, probably has a "low-rider" mode which reduces drag to extend range on the freeway.

Pretty impressive. It'll be very interesting to see how far it can tow 14k though.

People seem to be obsessed with the impact of trailer weight on range. My experience has been that a flatbed heavily loaded with firewood or dirt has less impact on fuel economy than an empty box trailer. Hence, it is air drag that kills range. Yes, weight does hurt range some with ICE vehicles but that is mostly due to increased use of mechanical brakes turning momentum into waste heat. An EV designed for towing will turn most of that momentum into electricity and put it back into the battery for re-use.

Range studies need to focus more on air drag and towing speeds, not weight. The auto makers know this and their towing tests are conducting with trailers having large air dams on the trailer giving consistent air drag results. The major testers like TFL need to get trailers of this sort. Auto makers rate their vehicles for max frontal area in addition to weight. Most people on this site seem to be unaware of that rating.

Yah. There are a whack load of electric SUV and electric half ton owners towing A-liners or other pop ups that have good results with towing. As soon as the profile gets higher the range falls off pretty quick. I’m sure some RV manufacturers in the future will pay more attention to this as the market develops.

How many units comprise “a whack load”? Because in all of my travels I’ve only seen one EV towing a trailer. That was a Tesla towing a 23’ wake boat in Boulder CO, and the owner said he tows from town a very short distance to the lake.

I’m not sure why you are so adamant in your defense of EVs as TVs. The simple fact is they aren’t ready for prime time for the vast majority of users, and won’t be for the foreseeable future.

[Reisender]

Groover wrote:

otrfun wrote:
Interesting, 8 bolt axles/wheels and 2700 lbs. of payload. 14k tow capacity.

Also, the airbag suspension, I assume, probably has a "low-rider" mode which reduces drag to extend range on the freeway.

Pretty impressive. It'll be very interesting to see how far it can tow 14k though.

People seem to be obsessed with the impact of trailer weight on range. My experience has been that a flatbed heavily loaded with firewood or dirt has less impact on fuel economy than an empty box trailer. Hence, it is air drag that kills range. Yes, weight does hurt range some with ICE vehicles but that is mostly due to increased use of mechanical brakes turning momentum into waste heat. An EV designed for towing will turn most of that momentum into electricity and put it back into the battery for re-use.

Range studies need to focus more on air drag and towing speeds, not weight. The auto makers know this and their towing tests are conducting with trailers having large air dams on the trailer giving consistent air drag results. The major testers like TFL need to get trailers of this sort. Auto makers rate their vehicles for max frontal area in addition to weight. Most people on this site seem to be unaware of that rating.

Yah. There are a whack load of electric SUV and electric half ton owners towing A-liners or other pop ups that have good results with towing. As soon as the profile gets higher the range falls off pretty quick. I’m sure some RV manufacturers in the future will pay more attention to this as the market develops.

[Groover]

otrfun wrote:
Interesting, 8 bolt axles/wheels and 2700 lbs. of payload. 14k tow capacity.

Also, the airbag suspension, I assume, probably has a "low-rider" mode which reduces drag to extend range on the freeway.

Pretty impressive. It'll be very interesting to see how far it can tow 14k though.

People seem to be obsessed with the impact of trailer weight on range. My experience has been that a flatbed heavily loaded with firewood or dirt has less impact on fuel economy than an empty box trailer. Hence, it is air drag that kills range. Yes, weight does hurt range some with ICE vehicles but that is mostly due to increased use of mechanical brakes turning momentum into waste heat. An EV designed for towing will turn most of that momentum into electricity and put it back into the battery for re-use.

Range studies need to focus more on air drag and towing speeds, not weight. The auto makers know this and their towing tests are conducting with trailers having large air dams on the trailer giving consistent air drag results. The major testers like TFL need to get trailers of this sort. Auto makers rate their vehicles for max frontal area in addition to weight. Most people on this site seem to be unaware of that rating.

[Grit_dog]

^ Roflmao!!!
Yes of course driving a door stop on wheels is more aero…
I learned that in 4th grade cub scouts Pinewood derby, when my wedge shaped hunk of wood on 4 wheels beat the other kids fancy cars that their insecure fathers spent hours “designing” and perfecting.
But A. first it has to actually be produced for retail sale. Which makes no sense that while Tesla basically single handedly brought EVs to the forefront, can’t get the Cybertruck on the road even almost a decade later when everyone and their brother is now pooping out high priced electric pickup trucks, or about to…

And B. You’ll be hard pressed to see that DeLorean on steroids pressed into any commercial/work/municipal uses. For a whole host of reasons.

[Reisender]

FishOnOne wrote:
Without detailed specifics, RAM is essentially saying all your EV truck concerns (Specific shot at the F150 Lightning) will be a non issue with their EV truck. This truck maybe so good it's forcing Ford's hand to redesign their Lightning already.

I totally agree. And recent ford rumours are that version 2 of their lightning will be a lot different than version 1.

What I don’t see any of the legacy trucks doing (or Rivian) is working on aero. I think Tesla may surprise everyone here with the size of the battery needed to go a given distance compared to the others because of aerodynamics. If the battery is significantly smaller it will probably have a significant affect on the price of the truck. Tesla is keeping all its numbers quiet right now but I think we’ll see some numbers by July.

Just a guess and mho.

Cheers.

[FishOnOne]

Without detailed specifics, RAM is essentially saying all your EV truck concerns (Specific shot at the F150 Lightning) will be a non issue with their EV truck. This truck maybe so good it's forcing Ford's hand to redesign their Lightning already.

[valhalla360]

Reality is most pickups never tow or haul anything significant. Even most tradesmen don't push the range and capabilities. IT is likely to be a divergence between trucks.

The only question is if the trucks that need both range and capabilities are a big enough market for the manufacturers to keep producing them.

[Durb]

Beautiful vehicle loaded with a bunch of froo-froo electronic stuff; most of which will not help at all to get my trailer to a campground.

[Grit_dog]

^Lol
2 things that have literally nothing to do with it being an EV and basically the same as todays regular pickup trucks.

[free_radical]

FishOnOne wrote:
Looks like RAM is full in on the EV movement. One thing interesting is RAM followed Fords design logic in that their EV truck looks similar to their ICE truck, unlike GM made their EV trucks looks totally different than their ICE trucks.

Link

Link2

More EV the better bring it on.

However I see few problems.
Bed is too short.
And IF you put camper or cap on it you wont be able to open those fender storage bins.
:R

[Cptnvideo]

I read about the Ram EV on the Fox News app. Comments were hilarious - and mostly negative about towing range and charge time.