the great thing is you dont have any traditional transmission, its just the engine and electronics which needs to be very well made, going downhill regen, you can tow up to 15,000lbs, you can literaly power an RV and camp everywhere you want.
It’s rated to be less efficient in EV mode than an f150 lightning and it’s rated to get worse mpg than a comparable gasoline powered truck. It’s kind of the worse of both worlds.
Awesome breakdown! $.20 per kWh is wild. I pay $.045 charging overnight in GA. I can drive the initial 145 miles for about $3. Right now I drive a model S as a daily and have a Ram 2500 for towing. This will replace both vehicles and save me about $2,500 a year in insurance. My commute is 80 miles round trip so I don’t think I’ll use much gas except maybe on weekends or trips out of town. I’m most likely canceling my cybertruck preorder and buying the ramcharger instead.
Damn….. 4.5 cents per KwH??? That’s outstanding. And agreed, this could potentially replace both vehicles. It all comes down to how solid of a product they end up delivering.
It's not that low, but your're still getting screwed on energy costs up North and out West. Down here is GA, the numbers do skew differently. Gas prices currently just under $2.50, Diesel right at $3.50. 13.2cents per KwH for Georgia Powers 2.3 million customers.
@@kedrevs4037 ok, ok, we might need to move back there now. Diesel is still in the $4-4.50 range in PA. And it almost hit $5/gal during the summer. We remember back in the late 90s when gas was 69 cents a gallon (in the Savannah area)..... that was pure heaven.
I'm driving a clarity phev now and I've checked my charg/mileage and it's about fifty cents per gallon of electric equivalent!. That's in western PA. The ramcharger should be a game changer.
Cool, but electricity costs under $0.10/kWh here in Utah from Rocky Mountain Power. Love how the Ramcharger gives us the flexibility of choosing from several sources of energy. We can pick the one that is appropriate.
Like many hybrids, the EV mode and battery mode can work together, where energy can be returned to the battery when slowing down or going down hill, and this is available throughout the entire 690 mile range. There will be many situations short commute, hilly, stop/start city where the RamCharger will seriously outperform all other options, including the diesel.
@@cmontes7961 The long life issues I think will be battery degradation and if the internal combustion engine is not used enough. Both can be managed with proper care. Hopefully it will use lithium ion phosphate chemistry for long life, and being a hybrid should provide flexibility to ensure the battery is never over stressed. The ICE engine would last a long time because it is not over used, runs at optimal revs, and can be protected by the owner by ensuring it gets used for an full hour every week or two. The electric drive units that will be doing all the work are low friction and should not wear out in a hurry. Likewise brakes should last longer by using regen. I am willing to bet the RamCharger will prove to be a long life option if used wisely.
Really nice breakdown. Thanks. Apparently, from the data the best use for the Ram Charger is when you have a daily commute of under 145 miles a day and charge it at home at night when the power is cheaper. Then occasionally take it on some road trips save you considerable amount of money vs using the gas engine for those daily commutes.
Great breakdown of relevant data. I’ve always loved diesel engines for medium duty trucks, but since the arrival of def and all the related technologies incorporated into them, you must also factor in the increase in maintenance which is quite substantial oil and filter changes go into hundreds of $’s per year an analysis of operating costs must include regular maintenance. The Ramcharger does need oil and filter changes, but it doesn’t even have a transmission and I don’t believe it has a traditional break system either. If the Ram brand wanted to up the anti in the game they would give customers the option of a non turbo four cylinder diesel under the hood to re charge the batteries. I’d like to see a cost per mile on that type of system. Great job.
Great information! Been looking forward to similar analysis. I appreciate the perspective on efficiency, but the lead story on this is that a lot of folks, myself included, get much better electric utility rates, making the electric cost much less for normal commuting, which is the norm. Then add on the fact that it’s 663 HP/615 Torque. Those trucks you compared it to don’t have comparable power/towing capability. I think this new RamCharger could be a game changer. We will soon see. But again, great video!
I was just about to replace my 2009 Ram 1500 4x4 Hemi with a used 2500 diesel but then this thing gets announced. I paid the $100 to get in line to order one. I'm retired so I don't have a commute but now I'm towing more. If I can tow locally on pure electric and then on long trips with the same vehicle, it sounds ideal. Of course financially, new trucks never make sense, especially diesel trucks, except for people that use them for work.
You probably aren't just buying a Ramcharger for efficiency (there are others out there probably more efficient), its for the 14k in towing and flexibility to drive an EV in areas where there are no charging stations. So if you are part time tow'er, into areas where there may not be charging stations you can access while towing (everywhere), then this truck seems like a nice fit.
Agreed in full. For what we do (lots of long trips, and lots of towing) this could be the perfect truck. Nobody wants to stop and charge their truck every hour or so, with a trailer hitched up. Assuming it lives up to the 14k towing figure, and >2k payload, it could be hugely successful. It's basically a 2500 with those kinds of ratings..... which is fine with us.
But it will likely get much worse fuel economy pulling a heavy trailer than a traditional pickup because the “magnetic transmission” connecting the engine to the wheels is not efficient.
@@yournumberonepal yes, trucks get worse fuel economy when towing, but ramcharger will get fewer mpg while towing heavy load than a traditional pickup truck towing the same load.
Electric rates will play a huge role in this... Night rates where I am are $0.14/kwh... It will be a very efficient truck for daily driving as most people do not drive over 150 miles in a day. My wife has a Pacifica hybrid with only a 30 mile electric range and during the week on an average work day she does not deplete the entire battery. She can go well over a month on a 15 gallon tank of gas. Stellantis hinted that the price may be less than the full EV ram because the cost of the battery will be so much less.
$0.12/kwt in NC. My 21 mile commute I average about 200 mpge ~ 5.0/kwt thru town in my Ariya, no complaints here. I sold my Lighting this summer, and thru town I could easily get 2.7/kwt. Really depends on Your commute. And yes I have a reservation for the RamCharger
.08/Kwt at my place. This thing is going to be awesome. Plus I only drive over 100 miles every week or two. The rest of my days are under 100, so the cost for me will be crazy low.
Cars use less energy than trucks. I think for most folks they won’t hardly use the gasoline they’ll just charge at night and use the gas tank as a back up or towing
I agree with everything you report, however I don't think you explained the process for those that haven't looked into the ramcharger. It never technically "runs" on gasoline, the 3.6 isn't attached to the drivetrain. The gasoline is only for recharging the battery. Daily commuters may never have the engine fire. And now I'm at the part where you explain mileage to the duty cycle. It will be a design to watch.
Great informative video! A few thoughts to help justify the purchase price. 1) Are there any government tax rebate incentives with a Series Hybrid as with a fully electric vehicle. 2) With the weight basically making it a 3/4 ton, would tax code series 179 come in to play for a business owner to help offset the cost?
Probably because of simplicity, low cost, and ease of maintenance. The 3.0 diesel is a highly efficient and durable engine, but Ram Trucks stopped using it a year ago. It's got all the complexity and emissions headaches and "diesel maintenance" issues that we know well.
The Ramcharger would be perfect for me. I commute almost 100 miles one-way to work, go home two days later. Then do it all again 4 days later. Ideally, I could plug it in at work. Doubt it though. My 2014 Ram 1500 gets low to mid 20's MPG on the highway. The Ford Fusion with a 1.5 Ecoboost that I usually drive gets into the low 30's MPG, but it's downlined with a bad cv axle.
With any dodge or Ram, expect recalls and shotty reliability. It will be expensive and that is not consumers are looking for now. I hope the Tradesmen trim for the Ramcharger will likely not be $60K with all the dealer markups.
Well, in the current environment the dealers are starting to find out they can't get away with "market adjustments" like they've been doing for the last couple years. So, when this truck hits the market in another year or so, hopefully it'll be priced to sell.
@@methanial73 I have an ecodiesel 2015 Ram 1500. I change my own oil at every 3500 miles rather than the 5000 recommended. I change the fuel filter as well. If you google Dodge ecodiesel, you will see a litany of recalls on the DEF system, fuel pump recall(which the dealer is qouting me $13K to fix on my own because Dodge has yet to have a solution 1 year after the recall after it cut out on my while driving 3 times), the ECG water pump recall, and others. All of those recalls crippled my Ram 1500. The ecodiesel is a turd and you can look up the recall on the Jeep 4Xe as well. There is a reason why Dodge/Chrysler/Stellantis has the lowest quality among even the top American auto makers. I have my truck for 2 months at the dealership. They finally got permission from Stellantis to fix it for free after much hassle even though there is no official recall solutions. I love my truck but every time I bring it back to fix something, it is due to some recall issue and they have it for over a month each time. It is not idiots not taking care of their cars, but idiots designing them.
Chevy, Ford and anyone else that wants to throw their hat in the ring of the new truck world better have their game face on….. Dodge has really kicked up some dust here with the RAMCHARGER…. Finally a real fight for the big boys to try and win over the crowds…..
I would curious to see this compared to the Chevy/GMC 3.0l Duramax. Im getting in the mid 30's on the highway with my 24 Chevy 1500 3.0 Duramax. What would be even more interesting if they did a diesel/hybrid version. Either way the Ramcharger is very impressive.
I guess it will come down to how efficient the 6cyl ICE in charging the battery. Per the spec the engine kicks in once the battery charge drops down to 20%. So on a long drive, how much gas will it consume to keep the battery charged? It will be interesting to see.
Once battery drops below 20% and gas engine is running, it should get worse mpg than a similar truck with a traditional transmission. Physics mandates that the “magnetic transmission,” which is what I refer to the generator - motor combination, has greater losses than a transmission that physically couples the engine to the wheels.
I can see an aftermarket for replacement/extended range batteries coming to life in a few years. "These lightweight batteries in the sides of your bed will add 300 miles of range" Or....batteries under the floor of a lowboy with an umbilical to the truck. Like a fuel tender on a locomotive, but can also carry cargo. Imagine a hotshot rig like that.
The one thing you left out is def cost. My Cummins uses a jug every 1500 miles or so. Also, premium is recommend for the f150 where regular is recommended for peentastar v6
My Volt uses the same concept. Saves me a ton of money. I actually don't really like the series hybrid configuration though. I wish it was parallel. Two power sources working together or separate as needed.
What you want is a more powerful electric motor. Series is way better than parallel. My hybrid Jeep is a bit lethargic when trying not to use the gas motor. This Ramcharger parallel solution is wildly better. you can tune the EV portion to drive the vehicle most efficiently and then tune the engine to recharge/generate most efficiently. Too many compromises on both with the parallel Jeep.
@@normr1744 no, I don't agree. Parallel is better because you can have both power from the electric motors and the gas engine, which is what I would like.
Plus the pentastar has won many awards and there are many millions of them on the road, and ice engines love running at a set rpm which also helps with reliability. Weight shouldn’t be any more than an extended range lightning, the 40kwh of battery weight (500lbs or so) the ram saves is about the additional weight of a pentastar plus cooling system.
I don't think the total cost per mile adds up quite right because when you compare the total combined miles with the total EV miles you get .16 per mile. When you combine all those miles together you get 690 miles like you said. The one thing you didn't change was the miles on the F150. You are still basing the same calculations on 545 miles when you should be calculating 690 miles as well. That being said the cost of the F150 would be slightly higher per mile than 16 cents. How many gallons would the F150 consume in 690 miles then calculate the cost from that. In the end it's not going to be a huge difference, but something to consider and the F150 Diesel still gets great mileage for a truck that's for sure. A lot to consider in these decisions. I'm also very curious on how the Ramcharger will behave while towing. I owned a Volt years ago and when that gas engine/generator was running it got quite noisy. Is the engine going to run constantly while towing so it doesn't drain the battery as fast? I'm very curious. I don't think I would mind the engine running at a low RPM while towing just to extend the range of the battery a bit longer since it wouldn't be screaming loud at that point.
Its not any more efficient on long drives but city driving is where you should show the savings. I pay .06 per Kwh so my cost is a lot cheaper than your numbers. Im guessing most people will buy this for the daily driving savings. And the added benefit is you still get a true truck for towing when you need it.
Damn right. We’re lucky we can drive 20 minutes and top off in NJ, of all places, where it’s at least 50 cents cheaper. Never would’ve believed it til we saw it….
Great video. Thanks for breaking it down. However I have a question. For the ramcharger in gas engine mode, there is no direct drive from engine to the wheels since there is no transmission. So my question is - wouldn’t the energy losses be higher when the engine is trying to charge the battery and the battery is in turn driving the motor driving the wheels -vs- engine is driving the transmission driving the wheels..? Did we take that into account for the net miles per gallon in such a case of indirect electrified transmission?
Well, there are a couple of factors in play. 1. When the Ramcharger "range extender" V-6 engine switches on, you've got to think they'll set the RPM's at the most efficient level possible to generate the required amount of electricity. Compared to a normal transmission, which doesn't always give you optimal RPM's. 2. In a normal transmission, there's some degree of power / energy loss due to friction, etc. Especially when the torque converter isn't locked up. 3. Yes, you get a loss of power when you run an electric generator off the "range extender" V-6, and either send the juice to the battery or directly to the drive motors. The question is whether it's more or less of a loss than items 1 & 2 shown above. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
It doesn't matter. When you use them in parallel there are too many forced trade offs. The current crop of plug in hybrids all have the same problems. 1. less power when in EV only mode 2. engine has to power the driveline and charge the battery at the same time. power loss at every RPM - not the most efficient RPM If you try to solve for #1 with a larger EV motor them it makes the gas power train less important- ROI starts to drop to nil. There is no free lunch with this stuff.
The gasoline engine isn't going to fully recharge the battery to the stated 145 mile range. It's going to deliver electricity to an electric drive train (not mechanical transmission) and what's left of the battery is used for the usual hybrid needs: getting you up to speed from a stop and absorbing the momentum when stopping back into electricity.
I think the answer is likely YES, this truck will almost certainly be less efficient when running on gas than a traditional hybrid and also less efficient than a comparable truck with a traditional transmission. The “magnetic transmission” that couples the engine to the wheels is inherently inefficient as it has to convert energy twice or four times if charging batteries. Each time energy is converted from one form to another there is a loss. This is why we don’t see a bunch of vehicles on the road using a generator motor combination instead of a normal Transmission. Ice generator electric drive technology is over 100 years old…making it work is easy. Getting good mpg with it is impossible.
Geez, Lets do the math. 690 range on 27gallon tank = 25miles per gallon. I got 33miles per gallon on my Ram Eco Diesel during a 3500 mile road trip driving + 5mph over speed limits 70 T0 80MPH. Truck is a 2022 Big Horn Level 2 trim. Rides like a sofa going down the road. Price of the truck 53000. So eliminating the Eco Diesel is foolish move. They should have created a hybrid version of the Eco Diesel. Once the EV mandate gets retracted maybe things will change. In the mean time dealers are having problems selling EVs due to the high costs and the interest rates for the normal Joe. Lets get real-we are all in big trouble with what is going on. VOTE OIL
Crazy that you barely got 20mpg with the Powerboost. Before I converted mine into an overlanding rig, I was getting 30mpg on a regular basis with a 2022 Platinum Powerboost FX4 with the 6.5ft bed.
Yeah the best we ever got was about 24mpg, but that was one time in two years. And we were going very, very slow. (65mph for about an hour or two.) 30mpg is amazing fuel economy for this truck and we never got close!
@ArmyProperty I think my advantage was that I took advantage of ANY downhill section to double tap the brake and force the truck into ev mode as much as possible. One guy on the Powerboost group on facebook has a 2wd XLT that gets 37mpg on a regular basis.
i get 18.8 with my Lariat 6.5' bed powerboost over 20k miles. and it's also been super frustrating, spent 3 months' total combined in the dealer's shop in the last 18 months
@rivertonrentalswy I've had my '22 for just over a year now and have 45k miles on the clock. I drive ALOT. I also had a three month issue that made things pretty rough for my truck ownership in the form of a bad exhaust heat exchanger. Still, love my truck and get great mileage with it despite the fact that she is a very heavy and has the aeros of a barn with the roof rack, GFC topper, rooftop tent and awning.
I likely wouldn't need much I would charge it every day we don't pay for electricity so that will not cost me anything. If I bought it I would likely add solar panels to it
Nice analysis but not completely accurate because...the gas engine in the ramcharger is not mechanically coupled to the drive train, so not used for traction like, say, the F-150 powerboost. Also, in the real world daily driving the battery will be used exclusively. Finally, the prime mission of the RamCharger's setup is to do better at max towing than the F-150's 80 mile range. If the the F-150's towing range is 25% of it's best range, then the Ramchargers tow range might be 790 miles/4 or 195 miles range towing.
I have not seen anyone confirm the size of the fuel tank for the Ram Charger. TFL doesn’t even know. All your calculations go out the window if they use their small tank at 23 gallons…. Food for thought.
Not really…. we drive trucks that weigh almost 9,000lb (empty) and they run just fine. As long as the axles, brakes, suspension components, etc are strong enough it’s just not a major issue.
@@aarsenalfan hahahahaha well, you're right about that. Last product of theirs that we bought was a 2003 Ram 3500, which has actually held up well. But that was when they were "DaimlerChrysler." And the company has been sold THREE TIMES since then. So yeah..... a lot of their recent product is highly suspect.
It seems you may not understand how this truck works. There is no gas range persay; the gas engine is not connected to the wheels at all and is only used to run a generator. So these comparisons are not really salient.
No we get that part.... and have discussed it in detail. It's a well-known fact that this truck won't have a transmission. But yes, when the 145 miles of battery range are exhausted, then the engine (or "range extender") will switch on, and will give you another 545 miles of crusing range -- or as we described it, "gasoline range" -- before you have to stop and either top off the gas tank or charge the battery. And based on the cruising range coupled with gallons burned, you can figure out an MPG figure pretty easily. Not sure how that doesn't make sense.
Well there are two issues. CO2 production is largely based on efficiency (MPG’s), so you could argue that diesels are better in that regard. But the problem a lot of people have with diesels is the other thing, specifically soot and NOx emissions. We’re not that worried about any of those things, when the single biggest pollution source on the planet (by a wide, wide margin) is Chinese coal-fired power plants. I think for now, diesel-electric or gas-electric are the best answer, in terms of both range and efficiency. Thanks for the question!!
You realize you have three entirely different sources of power here You have A motor that will not run the vehicle. When the batteries run out it runs a generator to Charge the batteries. Only you can't run the vehicle on the gas motor so it's not a Hybrid You have the electrical system to Fail You have the complete gas powered v 6 To fail And the generating system. I haven't heard the weight yet, but I guess. It cuts your payload way down if you're using it for a truck and not a car. For years, we were trying to lighten up the trucks with aluminum panels. Plastic interiors Plastic fuel tanks. Good luck when the warranty runs out on these 3 separate power plants. And don't compare it to a diesel train. Which is built to carry tons of weight😅
Zoom out on your iPad so you don't have to flip back and forth so much. Much easier for the viewer to keep up without you flipping left and right or up and down so much. Honestly, the Ramcharger is the only vehicle for several years now I'm even remotely interested in. I have a current new Generation Ram 1500 with the eTorque V8 as well as a Charger Hellcat...so I'm a fan of ICE but EV makes a lot of sense for local commuting and such. I also have solar at my home so I could technically recharge, on sunny days, for free. Nonetheless I want to see real world data when this truck is used as a truck to actually tow. Can the 3.6 V6 keep up and top off the battery or is it a losing battle and you have to stop and recharge anyway. If not I can see myself trading in my current Ram for a Ramcharger. I have a boat and trailer and need a truck for those but 95% of the time I'm driving to and from work or around town. So I would be in EV mode most of the time which is far more efficient with regenerative breaking in town than highway driving. That makes a lot more sense than driving a full size V8 truck by myself on a daily basis.
Final point, something that nobody really talks about is that the engine can be tuned to operate at its most efficient level only. It doesn't have to idle or rev to change gears, it can just sit at one RPM and make max power at its most efficient point in the power band. Vehicles with CVT transmissions were tuned to do this to a certain degree to improve efficiency.
The engine isn't going to recharge the battery up to full 145 mile range. It delivers power to an electric drive train (not a mechanical transmission). If you're driving beyond the battery range you'll just switch to gas and fill up in the usual way. If you happen to stop overnight at a hotel with free Level 2 chargers you wouldn't be waiting on it - plug it in and walk away. You might not get a full battery in that case, but it's free range.
your math is based on fixed data on a engine that is just a el;ectric generator keeping the EV batteries charged... so the batteries will not depleat until the gas is depleated... engine RPM will mostly be low RPM not high like a gas engine...
I believe the gen-sets the hook to need the higher RPM of a gas engine over a diesel. The faster you spin the magnets over the copper coils, the more energy the produce. Diesels are designed for low end torque and run at a much slower speed so by time you spin them up to the output speed you need, they would probably be way outside their optimal efficient range.
Diesel-electric could be great, if you do A VERY LARGE AMOUNT of long-distance driving under heavy load (with a big trailer, or up and down the mountains, etc) -- but the only issue is that you'll need to do "all that damn diesel maintenance" on it. And there will be a lot more complexity..... intercooled turbo, EGR, DPF, DEF, etc. But yes the operating cost could be a whole lot lower, because of how efficient a diesel engine can be. That's why 99% of large generators are diesels.
@@ArmyProperty Makes sense. The reliable Pentastar engine that Ram chose for the Ramcharger powertrain requires relatively little maintenance. We're glad that the battery capacity of the Ramcharger is at least 92 kWh and that it has Level 3 DC fast charging in addition to the 27-gallon gas tank. Very flexible.
Why the hell are you subtracting the EV miles? Its part of the range... your just trying to make the other trucks look better... The truck does not have a driveshaft connected to the gas engine...
Simmer down there, killer. We are subtracting EV miles (145) from the total range (of 690 miles) to find out how many MORE miles the truck will go when the gas engine or "range extender" kicks on. And yes we made it very clear that there's no tranny or driveshaft.
@@ArmyProperty i get that but that is only one of the many ways the truck works... you can have the engine keeping the batteries charged constantly until the engine runs out of fuel then you have the EV range which I would bet is a lot more efficient since the engine will have a constant rpm to keep the batteries topped off and not high reving like a standard gas powertrain... I am buying one instead of the Ford power boost for the plug in option and the in bed 30 amp power outlet
Problem with your math is that you will never run in EV only. The on board generation needs to be added. This results in 27 cents per mile to operate the Ramcharger.
Nope - gas engine doesn't kick on until batteries are low. His math is right. The first 145 miles are on electric rates then when engine starts it becomes a weighted average depending how far you go. If you never use gasoline you never see 0.16/mile. In my area there are lots of *free* Level 2 chargers. Miles per dollar becomes 150-300 (0.03-0.15) for my EV.
Too much guessing here. On mostly numbers reported by the OEMs which we all know are far from real world numbers. Plus some guessed numbers? I'll wait for real testing to be impressed or not.
All the numbers came from thousands of miles of real-world experience on vehicles that we owned. The only guesswork is based on what Ram Trucks have told us about the new Ramcharger.
That was the dumbest analysis I’ve ever seen. You don’t do segmented calculations on a hybrid truck. The Ramcharger probably uses its batteries from 20% to 80% charge in order to prolong the battery life. The gas engine only comes on from below 20% until it charges the battery to 80%. The gas engine runs at a fixed efficient speed to run the generator to charge the batteries. All this time, the electric motor is running normally and has regenerative braking, thus increasing its efficiency. All this dumb guy did was not realising what a hybrid truck does differently. Poor analysis as a hybrid or range extender truck is way more efficient than a typical gas or diesel truck.
Thanks for your insightful analysis... actually we're using numbers provided by Ram / Stellantis in their own press materials... so it sounds like you've got a beef with them? And we appreciate your concern but yes we know how hybrids work, we put 60,000 miles on our PowerBoost, and understand the concept of regen braking as well as the fact that you're using the middle 60% of the battery's life. (From 80% to 20%.) None of what you've stated is news, and it was all covered in the video. Thanks for watching, and have a great day!
.10 centsper mile. X 350 miles is $35 dollars. With gasoline im spending around $65 dollars per 350 miles. So you are saving about 30 dollars per tank. For me is not woth all the headaches with an electric vehicle. 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
I can't wait to get one. I drive 700 miles a week in my f150 limited. Spending 800 minimum a month in gas. This truck will be a game changer.
Damn right it will!
the great thing is you dont have any traditional transmission, its just the engine and electronics which needs to be very well made, going downhill regen, you can tow up to 15,000lbs, you can literaly power an RV and camp everywhere you want.
It’s rated to be less efficient in EV mode than an f150 lightning and it’s rated to get worse mpg than a comparable gasoline powered truck.
It’s kind of the worse of both worlds.
can you download a copy of your spreadsheet?
Awesome breakdown! $.20 per kWh is wild. I pay $.045 charging overnight in GA. I can drive the initial 145 miles for about $3. Right now I drive a model S as a daily and have a Ram 2500 for towing. This will replace both vehicles and save me about $2,500 a year in insurance. My commute is 80 miles round trip so I don’t think I’ll use much gas except maybe on weekends or trips out of town. I’m most likely canceling my cybertruck preorder and buying the ramcharger instead.
Damn….. 4.5 cents per KwH??? That’s outstanding. And agreed, this could potentially replace both vehicles. It all comes down to how solid of a product they end up delivering.
It's not that low, but your're still getting screwed on energy costs up North and out West. Down here is GA, the numbers do skew differently. Gas prices currently just under $2.50, Diesel right at $3.50. 13.2cents per KwH for Georgia Powers 2.3 million customers.
@@kedrevs4037 ok, ok, we might need to move back there now. Diesel is still in the $4-4.50 range in PA. And it almost hit $5/gal during the summer. We remember back in the late 90s when gas was 69 cents a gallon (in the Savannah area)..... that was pure heaven.
off peak in mn is like 3.75 cents per kwh and peak is 14 cents. 20 is insane.
I'm driving a clarity phev now and I've checked my charg/mileage and it's about fifty cents per gallon of electric equivalent!. That's in western PA. The ramcharger should be a game changer.
Cool, but electricity costs under $0.10/kWh here in Utah from Rocky Mountain Power. Love how the Ramcharger gives us the flexibility of choosing from several sources of energy. We can pick the one that is appropriate.
This is the best analysis I've seen so far. Thanks so much for sharing this information with us. Really appreciated!
Like many hybrids, the EV mode and battery mode can work together, where energy can be returned to the battery when slowing down or going down hill, and this is available throughout the entire 690 mile range. There will be many situations short commute, hilly, stop/start city where the RamCharger will seriously outperform all other options, including the diesel.
Until your out of warranty and it breaks😂
@@cmontes7961 The long life issues I think will be battery degradation and if the internal combustion engine is not used enough. Both can be managed with proper care. Hopefully it will use lithium ion phosphate chemistry for long life, and being a hybrid should provide flexibility to ensure the battery is never over stressed. The ICE engine would last a long time because it is not over used, runs at optimal revs, and can be protected by the owner by ensuring it gets used for an full hour every week or two. The electric drive units that will be doing all the work are low friction and should not wear out in a hurry. Likewise brakes should last longer by using regen. I am willing to bet the RamCharger will prove to be a long life option if used wisely.
Sounds good and looks even better on paper…time will tell
Really nice breakdown. Thanks. Apparently, from the data the best use for the Ram Charger is when you have a daily commute of under 145 miles a day and charge it at home at night when the power is cheaper. Then occasionally take it on some road trips save you considerable amount of money vs using the gas engine for those daily commutes.
that be me... LOL
Great breakdown of relevant data.
I’ve always loved diesel engines for medium duty trucks, but since the arrival of def and all the related technologies incorporated into them, you must also factor in the increase in maintenance which is quite substantial oil and filter changes go into hundreds of $’s per year an analysis of operating costs must include regular maintenance.
The Ramcharger does need oil and filter changes, but it doesn’t even have a transmission and I don’t believe it has a traditional break system either.
If the Ram brand wanted to up the anti in the game they would give customers the option of a non turbo four cylinder diesel under the hood to re charge the batteries. I’d like to see a cost per mile on that type of system.
Great job.
Great information! Been looking forward to similar analysis. I appreciate the perspective on efficiency, but the lead story on this is that a lot of folks, myself included, get much better electric utility rates, making the electric cost much less for normal commuting, which is the norm. Then add on the fact that it’s 663 HP/615 Torque. Those trucks you compared it to don’t have comparable power/towing capability. I think this new RamCharger could be a game changer. We will soon see. But again, great video!
Agreed in all respects!!! This could be an amazing truck.
The 3.6 lives on! Great engine.
It's not the powerplant. It the generator. Are u even thinking this through.😂
I was waiting for someone to do the math. Thanks for making this video.
I was just about to replace my 2009 Ram 1500 4x4 Hemi with a used 2500 diesel but then this thing gets announced. I paid the $100 to get in line to order one. I'm retired so I don't have a commute but now I'm towing more. If I can tow locally on pure electric and then on long trips with the same vehicle, it sounds ideal. Of course financially, new trucks never make sense, especially diesel trucks, except for people that use them for work.
Thanks a lot for providing such detailed realistic data. Too bad we can’t pre-book here in Canada. Can’t wait to get one.
You probably aren't just buying a Ramcharger for efficiency (there are others out there probably more efficient), its for the 14k in towing and flexibility to drive an EV in areas where there are no charging stations. So if you are part time tow'er, into areas where there may not be charging stations you can access while towing (everywhere), then this truck seems like a nice fit.
Agreed in full. For what we do (lots of long trips, and lots of towing) this could be the perfect truck. Nobody wants to stop and charge their truck every hour or so, with a trailer hitched up. Assuming it lives up to the 14k towing figure, and >2k payload, it could be hugely successful. It's basically a 2500 with those kinds of ratings..... which is fine with us.
But it will likely get much worse fuel economy pulling a heavy trailer than a traditional pickup because the “magnetic transmission” connecting the engine to the wheels is not efficient.
@@jacuzzibusguy Doesn't ever truck get worse mileage when towing? I've yet to find one that is more efficient towing. 🤷
@@yournumberonepal yes, trucks get worse fuel economy when towing, but ramcharger will get fewer mpg while towing heavy load than a traditional pickup truck towing the same load.
@@jacuzzibusguy How so?
Plus the added bonus of having 600+ HP on tap when you want it.
Electric rates will play a huge role in this... Night rates where I am are $0.14/kwh... It will be a very efficient truck for daily driving as most people do not drive over 150 miles in a day. My wife has a Pacifica hybrid with only a 30 mile electric range and during the week on an average work day she does not deplete the entire battery. She can go well over a month on a 15 gallon tank of gas. Stellantis hinted that the price may be less than the full EV ram because the cost of the battery will be so much less.
Blue DEF is another cost to consider when calculating the operating cost for the diesel. So the Ramcharger is cheaper to run when that is considered.
Sounds like a great concept.
$0.12/kwt in NC. My 21 mile commute I average about 200 mpge ~ 5.0/kwt thru town in my Ariya, no complaints here. I sold my Lighting this summer, and thru town I could easily get 2.7/kwt. Really depends on
Your commute. And yes I have a reservation for the RamCharger
Hopefully, I'll be joining you. Do you have the web address for the reservation and how much did it cost?
@@stevegibson743go to RamCharger, only $100 for the reservation
.08/Kwt at my place. This thing is going to be awesome. Plus I only drive over 100 miles every week or two. The rest of my days are under 100, so the cost for me will be crazy low.
Cars use less energy than trucks. I think for most folks they won’t hardly use the gasoline they’ll just charge at night and use the gas tank as a back up or towing
Exactly why I've been trying to suggest a hundred mile battery on phevs. Saves money driving.
I agree with everything you report, however I don't think you explained the process for those that haven't looked into the ramcharger. It never technically "runs" on gasoline, the 3.6 isn't attached to the drivetrain. The gasoline is only for recharging the battery. Daily commuters may never have the engine fire. And now I'm at the part where you explain mileage to the duty cycle. It will be a design to watch.
I love the efficiency numbers, but you should also match that with Ram’s posted performance numbers. The combo seems pretty amazing.
Great analysis. I bet we will see more plug in hybrid trucks announced by the other brands soon...
At the end i highly doubt that gonna be worth the premium for it. Will have to see how towing is gonna be.
14,000 lbs towing is giving my 2500 a run for its money.
Great informative video!
A few thoughts to help justify the purchase price.
1) Are there any government tax rebate incentives with a Series Hybrid as with a fully electric vehicle.
2) With the weight basically making it a 3/4 ton, would tax code series 179 come in to play for a business owner to help offset the cost?
For the diesel F150 you didn’t include DEF prices. That increases operating cost per mile more than PowerBoost and RamCharger.
Great review. Why do you think RAM went with the 3.6 gas instead of the 3.0 diesel for the range extender?
Probably because of simplicity, low cost, and ease of maintenance. The 3.0 diesel is a highly efficient and durable engine, but Ram Trucks stopped using it a year ago. It's got all the complexity and emissions headaches and "diesel maintenance" issues that we know well.
The Ramcharger would be perfect for me. I commute almost 100 miles one-way to work, go home two days later. Then do it all again 4 days later. Ideally, I could plug it in at work. Doubt it though. My 2014 Ram 1500 gets low to mid 20's MPG on the highway. The Ford Fusion with a 1.5 Ecoboost that I usually drive gets into the low 30's MPG, but it's downlined with a bad cv axle.
With any dodge or Ram, expect recalls and shotty reliability. It will be expensive and that is not consumers are looking for now. I hope the Tradesmen trim for the Ramcharger will likely not be $60K with all the dealer markups.
Well, in the current environment the dealers are starting to find out they can't get away with "market adjustments" like they've been doing for the last couple years. So, when this truck hits the market in another year or so, hopefully it'll be priced to sell.
253K on my Durango. Almost 200k on my 300. My pickup over 200k. Maybe idiots can't maintain their vehicles and they fail.
@@methanial73 yup, we've got 400k on our 2003 Cummins.
@@methanial73 I have an ecodiesel 2015 Ram 1500. I change my own oil at every 3500 miles rather than the 5000 recommended. I change the fuel filter as well. If you google Dodge ecodiesel, you will see a litany of recalls on the DEF system, fuel pump recall(which the dealer is qouting me $13K to fix on my own because Dodge has yet to have a solution 1 year after the recall after it cut out on my while driving 3 times), the ECG water pump recall, and others. All of those recalls crippled my Ram 1500. The ecodiesel is a turd and you can look up the recall on the Jeep 4Xe as well. There is a reason why Dodge/Chrysler/Stellantis has the lowest quality among even the top American auto makers. I have my truck for 2 months at the dealership. They finally got permission from Stellantis to fix it for free after much hassle even though there is no official recall solutions. I love my truck but every time I bring it back to fix something, it is due to some recall issue and they have it for over a month each time. It is not idiots not taking care of their cars, but idiots designing them.
Chevy, Ford and anyone else that wants to throw their hat in the ring of the new truck world better have their game face on….. Dodge has really kicked up some dust here with the RAMCHARGER…. Finally a real fight for the big boys to try and win over the crowds…..
$1,000.00 per month is totally ridiculous! Absolutely no way on this gods green earth could I’ve fathom that!!!
I would curious to see this compared to the Chevy/GMC 3.0l Duramax. Im getting in the mid 30's on the highway with my 24 Chevy 1500 3.0 Duramax. What would be even more interesting if they did a diesel/hybrid version. Either way the Ramcharger is very impressive.
i put a deposit on and will make decision on one when they come out with trim levels and price. but i only drive 100 miles a day most of the time
this was very good ... thank you
Glad you liked it!
I guess it will come down to how efficient the 6cyl ICE in charging the battery. Per the spec the engine kicks in once the battery charge drops down to 20%. So on a long drive, how much gas will it consume to keep the battery charged? It will be interesting to see.
Once battery drops below 20% and gas engine is running, it should get worse mpg than a similar truck with a traditional transmission. Physics mandates that the “magnetic transmission,” which is what I refer to the generator - motor combination, has greater losses than a transmission that physically couples the engine to the wheels.
You didn't put the FORD lightning calculations on there per mile in EV mode. truck for truck... not Tesla
Just published another review which was an "apples to apples" comparison between the Lightning and Ramcharger!
I can see an aftermarket for replacement/extended range batteries coming to life in a few years. "These lightweight batteries in the sides of your bed will add 300 miles of range" Or....batteries under the floor of a lowboy with an umbilical to the truck. Like a fuel tender on a locomotive, but can also carry cargo. Imagine a hotshot rig like that.
wow, i havent heard of this vehicle, neat!
It isn't out yet. Just revealed like 2 weeks ago.
The one thing you left out is def cost. My Cummins uses a jug every 1500 miles or so. Also, premium is recommend for the f150 where regular is recommended for peentastar v6
Definitely!!! Good point
My Volt uses the same concept. Saves me a ton of money. I actually don't really like the series hybrid configuration though. I wish it was parallel. Two power sources working together or separate as needed.
What you want is a more powerful electric motor. Series is way better than parallel. My hybrid Jeep is a bit lethargic when trying not to use the gas motor. This Ramcharger parallel solution is wildly better. you can tune the EV portion to drive the vehicle most efficiently and then tune the engine to recharge/generate most efficiently. Too many compromises on both with the parallel Jeep.
@@normr1744 no, I don't agree. Parallel is better because you can have both power from the electric motors and the gas engine, which is what I would like.
Plus the pentastar has won many awards and there are many millions of them on the road, and ice engines love running at a set rpm which also helps with reliability.
Weight shouldn’t be any more than an extended range lightning, the 40kwh of battery weight (500lbs or so) the ram saves is about the additional weight of a pentastar plus cooling system.
I don't think the total cost per mile adds up quite right because when you compare the total combined miles with the total EV miles you get .16 per mile. When you combine all those miles together you get 690 miles like you said. The one thing you didn't change was the miles on the F150. You are still basing the same calculations on 545 miles when you should be calculating 690 miles as well. That being said the cost of the F150 would be slightly higher per mile than 16 cents. How many gallons would the F150 consume in 690 miles then calculate the cost from that.
In the end it's not going to be a huge difference, but something to consider and the F150 Diesel still gets great mileage for a truck that's for sure. A lot to consider in these decisions. I'm also very curious on how the Ramcharger will behave while towing. I owned a Volt years ago and when that gas engine/generator was running it got quite noisy. Is the engine going to run constantly while towing so it doesn't drain the battery as fast? I'm very curious. I don't think I would mind the engine running at a low RPM while towing just to extend the range of the battery a bit longer since it wouldn't be screaming loud at that point.
Electricity in PA is 14 cents per KW. Where did you get 20 cents?
Its not any more efficient on long drives but city driving is where you should show the savings. I pay .06 per Kwh so my cost is a lot cheaper than your numbers. Im guessing most people will buy this for the daily driving savings. And the added benefit is you still get a true truck for towing when you need it.
PA Diesel prices are brutal.
Damn right. We’re lucky we can drive 20 minutes and top off in NJ, of all places, where it’s at least 50 cents cheaper. Never would’ve believed it til we saw it….
@@ArmyProperty I live in east PA and it’s the same here. Not much better in NJ over the border. But they are better.
Our electric crate is $ .085 so not too bad
Great video. Thanks for breaking it down. However I have a question. For the ramcharger in gas engine mode, there is no direct drive from engine to the wheels since there is no transmission. So my question is - wouldn’t the energy losses be higher when the engine is trying to charge the battery and the battery is in turn driving the motor driving the wheels -vs- engine is driving the transmission driving the wheels..? Did we take that into account for the net miles per gallon in such a case of indirect electrified transmission?
Well, there are a couple of factors in play.
1. When the Ramcharger "range extender" V-6 engine switches on, you've got to think they'll set the RPM's at the most efficient level possible to generate the required amount of electricity. Compared to a normal transmission, which doesn't always give you optimal RPM's.
2. In a normal transmission, there's some degree of power / energy loss due to friction, etc. Especially when the torque converter isn't locked up.
3. Yes, you get a loss of power when you run an electric generator off the "range extender" V-6, and either send the juice to the battery or directly to the drive motors. The question is whether it's more or less of a loss than items 1 & 2 shown above. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
It doesn't matter. When you use them in parallel there are too many forced trade offs. The current crop of plug in hybrids all have the same problems.
1. less power when in EV only mode
2. engine has to power the driveline and charge the battery at the same time. power loss at every RPM - not the most efficient RPM
If you try to solve for #1 with a larger EV motor them it makes the gas power train less important- ROI starts to drop to nil.
There is no free lunch with this stuff.
The gasoline engine isn't going to fully recharge the battery to the stated 145 mile range. It's going to deliver electricity to an electric drive train (not mechanical transmission) and what's left of the battery is used for the usual hybrid needs: getting you up to speed from a stop and absorbing the momentum when stopping back into electricity.
I think the answer is likely YES, this truck will almost certainly be less efficient when running on gas than a traditional hybrid and also less efficient than a comparable truck with a traditional transmission.
The “magnetic transmission” that couples the engine to the wheels is inherently inefficient as it has to convert energy twice or four times if charging batteries. Each time energy is converted from one form to another there is a loss.
This is why we don’t see a bunch of vehicles on the road using a generator motor combination instead of a normal
Transmission.
Ice generator electric drive technology is over 100 years old…making it work is easy. Getting good mpg with it is impossible.
I don't think it's gonna keep as much power when the battery runs out . Possibly could be a problem if you are towing
Could you do another video on this again, but with towing mpg.
The best comparison would have been the Ramcharger to the F150 Powerboost.
Geez, Lets do the math. 690 range on 27gallon tank = 25miles per gallon. I got 33miles per gallon on my Ram Eco Diesel during a 3500 mile road trip driving + 5mph over speed limits 70 T0 80MPH. Truck is a 2022 Big Horn Level 2 trim. Rides like a sofa going down the road.
Price of the truck 53000. So eliminating the Eco Diesel is foolish move. They should have created a hybrid version of the Eco Diesel. Once the EV mandate gets retracted maybe things will change. In the mean time dealers are having problems selling EVs due to the high costs and the interest rates for the normal Joe. Lets get real-we are all in big trouble with what is going on. VOTE OIL
Crazy that you barely got 20mpg with the Powerboost. Before I converted mine into an overlanding rig, I was getting 30mpg on a regular basis with a 2022 Platinum Powerboost FX4 with the 6.5ft bed.
Yeah the best we ever got was about 24mpg, but that was one time in two years. And we were going very, very slow. (65mph for about an hour or two.) 30mpg is amazing fuel economy for this truck and we never got close!
@ArmyProperty I think my advantage was that I took advantage of ANY downhill section to double tap the brake and force the truck into ev mode as much as possible. One guy on the Powerboost group on facebook has a 2wd XLT that gets 37mpg on a regular basis.
i get 18.8 with my Lariat 6.5' bed powerboost over 20k miles. and it's also been super frustrating, spent 3 months' total combined in the dealer's shop in the last 18 months
@rivertonrentalswy I've had my '22 for just over a year now and have 45k miles on the clock. I drive ALOT. I also had a three month issue that made things pretty rough for my truck ownership in the form of a bad exhaust heat exchanger. Still, love my truck and get great mileage with it despite the fact that she is a very heavy and has the aeros of a barn with the roof rack, GFC topper, rooftop tent and awning.
You forgot to tell everyone that was on flat ground with a tail wind...
I likely wouldn't need much I would charge it every day we don't pay for electricity so that will not cost me anything. If I bought it I would likely add solar panels to it
man, you did a great job, I can tell you did not get vax'd.
Nice analysis but not completely accurate because...the gas engine in the ramcharger is not mechanically coupled to the drive train, so not used for traction like, say, the F-150 powerboost. Also, in the real world daily driving the battery will be used exclusively. Finally, the prime mission of the RamCharger's setup is to do better at max towing than the F-150's 80 mile range. If the the F-150's towing range is 25% of it's best range, then the Ramchargers tow range might be 790 miles/4 or 195 miles range towing.
Agreed. That's what we thought we were saying!
I have not seen anyone confirm the size of the fuel tank for the Ram Charger. TFL doesn’t even know. All your calculations go out the window if they use their small tank at 23 gallons…. Food for thought.
The V6 engine only serves as a generator, that's all.
Weight adds lots of costs you forgot about. 🍻
Not really…. we drive trucks that weigh almost 9,000lb (empty) and they run just fine. As long as the axles, brakes, suspension components, etc are strong enough it’s just not a major issue.
@@ArmyProperty That's STELLANTIS we're talking about. 🤣
@@aarsenalfan hahahahaha well, you're right about that. Last product of theirs that we bought was a 2003 Ram 3500, which has actually held up well. But that was when they were "DaimlerChrysler." And the company has been sold THREE TIMES since then. So yeah..... a lot of their recent product is highly suspect.
It seems you may not understand how this truck works. There is no gas range persay; the gas engine is not connected to the wheels at all and is only used to run a generator. So these comparisons are not really salient.
No we get that part.... and have discussed it in detail. It's a well-known fact that this truck won't have a transmission.
But yes, when the 145 miles of battery range are exhausted, then the engine (or "range extender") will switch on, and will give you another 545 miles of crusing range -- or as we described it, "gasoline range" -- before you have to stop and either top off the gas tank or charge the battery. And based on the cruising range coupled with gallons burned, you can figure out an MPG figure pretty easily. Not sure how that doesn't make sense.
The diesel is the best deal... but can it be made to be clean burning so we don't add to the global warming situation
Well there are two issues. CO2 production is largely based on efficiency (MPG’s), so you could argue that diesels are better in that regard. But the problem a lot of people have with diesels is the other thing, specifically soot and NOx emissions. We’re not that worried about any of those things, when the single biggest pollution source on the planet (by a wide, wide margin) is Chinese coal-fired power plants. I think for now, diesel-electric or gas-electric are the best answer, in terms of both range and efficiency. Thanks for the question!!
I live in the north. I like global warming.
Hahahah you believe in that hoax. Okay
You realize you have three entirely different sources of power here You have A motor that will not run the vehicle. When the batteries run out it runs a generator to Charge the batteries.
Only you can't run the vehicle on the gas motor so it's not a Hybrid You have the electrical system to Fail You have the complete gas powered v 6 To fail And the generating system. I haven't heard the weight yet, but I guess. It cuts your payload way down if you're using it for a truck and not a car. For years, we were trying to lighten up the trucks with aluminum panels. Plastic interiors Plastic fuel tanks. Good luck when the warranty runs out on these 3 separate power plants. And don't compare it to a diesel train. Which is built to carry tons of weight😅
No, not three sources of power. The gas engine is the generator, which you counted twice.
Zoom out on your iPad so you don't have to flip back and forth so much. Much easier for the viewer to keep up without you flipping left and right or up and down so much. Honestly, the Ramcharger is the only vehicle for several years now I'm even remotely interested in. I have a current new Generation Ram 1500 with the eTorque V8 as well as a Charger Hellcat...so I'm a fan of ICE but EV makes a lot of sense for local commuting and such. I also have solar at my home so I could technically recharge, on sunny days, for free. Nonetheless I want to see real world data when this truck is used as a truck to actually tow. Can the 3.6 V6 keep up and top off the battery or is it a losing battle and you have to stop and recharge anyway. If not I can see myself trading in my current Ram for a Ramcharger. I have a boat and trailer and need a truck for those but 95% of the time I'm driving to and from work or around town. So I would be in EV mode most of the time which is far more efficient with regenerative breaking in town than highway driving. That makes a lot more sense than driving a full size V8 truck by myself on a daily basis.
Final point, something that nobody really talks about is that the engine can be tuned to operate at its most efficient level only. It doesn't have to idle or rev to change gears, it can just sit at one RPM and make max power at its most efficient point in the power band. Vehicles with CVT transmissions were tuned to do this to a certain degree to improve efficiency.
The engine isn't going to recharge the battery up to full 145 mile range. It delivers power to an electric drive train (not a mechanical transmission). If you're driving beyond the battery range you'll just switch to gas and fill up in the usual way. If you happen to stop overnight at a hotel with free Level 2 chargers you wouldn't be waiting on it - plug it in and walk away. You might not get a full battery in that case, but it's free range.
your math is based on fixed data on a engine that is just a el;ectric generator keeping the EV batteries charged... so the batteries will not depleat until the gas is depleated... engine RPM will mostly be low RPM not high like a gas engine...
The current Stellantis parallel has an EV only mode. I would imagine this one will as well. It's the reason only 70kw of the battery is available.
its .11 cents kwh in nw Indiana
That's great! Guessing the nuke power plant a Michigan City has something to do with that.
@@ArmyProperty we are actually coal with nipsco.
@@jimdye7431 damn, that's really cheap. We're on mostly nuclear in Eastern PA and you're paying a lot less than we are.
Diesel electric is how they should do it.
Way too $….
May be good to have many options, including Ramcharger-like vehicle with diesel engine, indeed! Consumer can pick and choose the most approriate.
I believe the gen-sets the hook to need the higher RPM of a gas engine over a diesel. The faster you spin the magnets over the copper coils, the more energy the produce. Diesels are designed for low end torque and run at a much slower speed so by time you spin them up to the output speed you need, they would probably be way outside their optimal efficient range.
Diesel-electric could be great, if you do A VERY LARGE AMOUNT of long-distance driving under heavy load (with a big trailer, or up and down the mountains, etc) -- but the only issue is that you'll need to do "all that damn diesel maintenance" on it. And there will be a lot more complexity..... intercooled turbo, EGR, DPF, DEF, etc. But yes the operating cost could be a whole lot lower, because of how efficient a diesel engine can be. That's why 99% of large generators are diesels.
@@ArmyProperty Makes sense. The reliable Pentastar engine that Ram chose for the Ramcharger powertrain requires relatively little maintenance. We're glad that the battery capacity of the Ramcharger is at least 92 kWh and that it has Level 3 DC fast charging in addition to the 27-gallon gas tank. Very flexible.
How can you compare a tesla and a Ram :D
.16 cents per mile in a big truck with over 600 hp and torque.
Why the hell are you subtracting the EV miles? Its part of the range... your just trying to make the other trucks look better... The truck does not have a driveshaft connected to the gas engine...
Simmer down there, killer. We are subtracting EV miles (145) from the total range (of 690 miles) to find out how many MORE miles the truck will go when the gas engine or "range extender" kicks on. And yes we made it very clear that there's no tranny or driveshaft.
@@ArmyProperty i get that but that is only one of the many ways the truck works... you can have the engine keeping the batteries charged constantly until the engine runs out of fuel then you have the EV range which I would bet is a lot more efficient since the engine will have a constant rpm to keep the batteries topped off and not high reving like a standard gas powertrain... I am buying one instead of the Ford power boost for the plug in option and the in bed 30 amp power outlet
Problem with your math is that you will never run in EV only. The on board generation needs to be added. This results in 27 cents per mile to operate the Ramcharger.
Nope - gas engine doesn't kick on until batteries are low. His math is right. The first 145 miles are on electric rates then when engine starts it becomes a weighted average depending how far you go. If you never use gasoline you never see 0.16/mile.
In my area there are lots of *free* Level 2 chargers. Miles per dollar becomes 150-300 (0.03-0.15) for my EV.
Too much guessing here. On mostly numbers reported by the OEMs which we all know are far from real world numbers. Plus some guessed numbers? I'll wait for real testing to be impressed or not.
All the numbers came from thousands of miles of real-world experience on vehicles that we owned. The only guesswork is based on what Ram Trucks have told us about the new Ramcharger.
That was the dumbest analysis I’ve ever seen. You don’t do segmented calculations on a hybrid truck. The Ramcharger probably uses its batteries from 20% to 80% charge in order to prolong the battery life. The gas engine only comes on from below 20% until it charges the battery to 80%. The gas engine runs at a fixed efficient speed to run the generator to charge the batteries. All this time, the electric motor is running normally and has regenerative braking, thus increasing its efficiency. All this dumb guy did was not realising what a hybrid truck does differently. Poor analysis as a hybrid or range extender truck is way more efficient than a typical gas or diesel truck.
Thanks for your insightful analysis... actually we're using numbers provided by Ram / Stellantis in their own press materials... so it sounds like you've got a beef with them? And we appreciate your concern but yes we know how hybrids work, we put 60,000 miles on our PowerBoost, and understand the concept of regen braking as well as the fact that you're using the middle 60% of the battery's life. (From 80% to 20%.) None of what you've stated is news, and it was all covered in the video. Thanks for watching, and have a great day!
Worst review ever
Pentastar vs pentastar needs to be part of this comparison
.10 centsper mile. X 350 miles is $35 dollars. With gasoline im spending around $65 dollars per 350 miles. So you are saving about 30 dollars per tank. For me is not woth all the headaches with an electric vehicle. 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
the 3.6L gas engine is a TRUE generator. It does NOT ever drive the vehicle. There is NO physical connection to the drivetrain.
Yup. Just like a diesel-electric locomotive