Ram 1500 Revolution BEV Electric Pickup Concept Debuts at CES
Ram’s muscular electric pickup truck can autonomously follow along while you work on foot and totally transform its cabin with the touch of a button.
The battle for electric truck supremacy continues to heat up with Ram entering the fray, debuting the Ram 1500 Revolution BEV concept at CES 2023. The full-size pickup boasts a bold design that looks ready to work and play hard and an amazingly flexible interior that blurs the line between cabin and cargo space.
The pickup features a slick design highlighted by an animated RAM badge on the front fascia and "tuning fork" design elements in the lights and grille. The deeply sculpted, muscular haunches bulge around the truck's long wheelbase and chunky 35-inch tires, while the contrasting black green house is composed almost entirely of glass. This has the double benefit of letting a lot of light into the cabin while also visually elongating the chassis. The Ram Revolution looks huge, but Ram tells me that the concept's overall length is actually within inches of the current production 1500.
Full-sized battery electric pickup truck will be the first vehicle built on Stellantis' new STLA Frame body-on-frame architecture. The platform accommodates and protects the battery pack within the frame of the vehicle, incorporating an efficiency boosting aero panel into the undercarriage. STLA Frame also allows for more efficient packaging of the truck's dual electric drive motors, one for each axle.
Range and power haven't been stated, but we do know that the Revolution's 800-volt electric architecture will support up to 350 kW DC fast charging, allowing it to ideally add up to 100 miles of range with a 10-minute charge.
Flexible cabin
The BEV's rear-hinged back doors swing open along with the fronts to reveal a huge opening without a B-pillar obstruction. Front and center are the truck's dual 14.2-inch dashboard displays stacked vertically. The lower screen is removable and can operate remotely as a tablet, and both feature the next-generation of Stellantis' infotainment tech, which was also previewed on Chrysler's concept cockpit that debuted earlier in the show.
All of the removable seats slide on a rail system that allows the cabin to be reconfigured for a variety of uses. Those rails could also potentially accommodate accessories such as tie-down points or dividers. Even the center console slides and can be removed if needed. The console also features foldout tabletops that can accommodate laptop computers for the front seat passengers while parked.
Aiding in wrangling the reconfigurable elements of the interior is the Cabin Modes system, one-touch settings that adjust the cabin lights, seat position/orientation and sound experience, as well as the skylight opacity, suspension height and more for themes including Productivity Mode, Social Mode, Party Mode and Relax Mode. Users can also define their own modes.
Like the upcoming Silverado EV, the Ram Revolution concept also features a motorized midgate that can be opened to access a pass-through from the tailgate into the cabin. However, Ram goes two steps further, integrating foldout third row jump seats into the midgate and adding a second pass-through into the pickup's frunk underhood storage area. With both passages open, drivers can accommodate up to 18-foot-long items, completely enclosed between the cabin, frunk and tonneau-covered bed. To help owners make the most efficient use of the space, the concept imagines an Intelligent Storage App that allows users to simply scan an item's barcode to show how the object can be best positioned in the vehicle.
Advanced truck technology
The concept features four-wheel steering with up to 15 degrees of rear axle articulation, which allows for tighter handling at low speeds and creative off-road maneuvering, while also boosting lane-changing stability at highway speeds.
The Ram Revolution is envisioned with Level 3 autonomy in mind, and so features a steering wheel that can fold out of the way during machine-piloted driving. I'm told that Stellantis is closer to delivering Level 3 driver assist than you might think, but that Ram probably won't be the first brand to get it. Still, that folding wheel would still be handy for those Cabin Modes.
One of the unique features the concept debuts is Shadow Mode. When it's active, the driver can get out of the truck and have it autonomously follow while proceeding on foot. Ram thinks this would be useful for, say, inspecting a stretch of fence without having to get in and out over and over or having the truck follow while the driver is collecting tools scattered around a work site.
Arriving in 2024
Ram's first battery electric pickup arrives ready to compete with Ford , Chevrolet and Rivian in 2024. A production-ready debut is expected along with power, range and efficiency estimates in the coming months.