Better late than never, they say. Ram certainly hopes so. Because while Rivian prepares to begin R1T deliveries this month, Tesla keeps the Cybertruck moving toward a late-2021 launch, Ford looks to 2022 to get the F-150 Lightning rolling out, and Chevy readies the electric Silverado to follow the GMC Hummer EV super-truck, Ram is just now announcing the all-electric 1500 ... for 2024. It promises the new truck will be worth the wait.
"In 2024, with full knowledge of what our competitors are doing, we will surpass their offerings with the Ram 1500 battery electric vehicle built to, again, redefine the full-size segment," Ram CEO Mike Koval said during today's Stellantis EV Day presentation.
Koval follows that up by assuring the world that Ram is not following in the footsteps of competitors, even though it seems rather clear it is. Much of the rest of the presentation is a vague tangle of buzzwords and generalities, none more prominent than "customer(s)," which echoes its way through the presentation at least a dozen times (we stopped counting) – as though we should be impressed a company selling products thinks about the people buying them.
Presentation issues aside, Ram confirms that it will engage Ford and GM in a new generation of pickup truck wars. The 1500 BEV will be one among the new products that fill out the majority of its model lines with an electrified option by 2025 and all of them by 2030.
While Ram will take a little longer getting an e-pickup to market, its electric 1500 should be plenty capable, assuming Stellantis achieves its goals along the way. The auto group's plans call for the development of four BEV-centric "STLA" platforms, the largest of which will include high-density batteries for ranges up to 500 miles (800 km).
During his presentation, Koval surrounds himself with five very different body types hidden away below sheets, so Ram clearly has a few other EVs in the works beyond the 1500. Hopefully we'll get to see one or two of them before 2024.
If you want to see Ram's video presentation for yourself, just hit play below.
Source: Stellantis
I'd have been embarrassed to sign my name to something like this.