For most Street Muscle Magazine readers, EVs of any stripe are strictly verboten. We love the smell of gas and oil, the melody of a real exhaust note, and the baritone throb of a V8 engine under our right foot. Electric cars and trucks are for poseurs and woke college professors and are the furthest thing from our vision of automotive nirvana.
Images courtesy Stellantis Media
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, check out RAM’s new 1500 Revolution EV Concept pickup that Stellantis pulled the wraps off of at the new SEMA of the automotive world, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. If there is any recent EV that could change your mind, the new RAM just might be the rig to do it.
Here’s a truck that is a styling and engineering tour de force. Regardless of its propulsion system, we can all agree that a tough-looking truck can warm the coldest of hearts. From the twin tuning fork headlights to the sculpted body lines, this is one square-jawed, all-America rig. Both brutal and beautiful, head Stellantis designer Ralph Gilles dubs the look “Brutiful.”
While not as freaky as Tesla’s (AWOL) Cybertruck, the Ram EV looks fresh even though it borrows its silhouette (and midgate) from GM’s EV pickups. Commensurately, it makes the cobbled-together, ICE-based Ford Lightening look like an old apple cart.
Chevy Silverado EV – top, Ram 1500 Revolution EV Concept – below. If both were painted the same color, they could almost be twins.
The interior is right out of the Starship Enterprise with the obligatory gigantic IP screens, twinkling ambient lighting, and modern lines. Ram adds a new twist to the cabin by adding a third row of jump seats that are accessed by sliding the front two seat rows forward via the “Ram Track” floor-mount system. You can even use the lower portion of the jump seats bleacher-style, on the ground or attached to the bed for tailgating at the local football game. There is even a pass-through via the midgate and the console to accept 18 feet long objects, as long as it’s no wider than 12 x 12″.
The Ram rides on the Stellantis STLA body-on-frame architecture explicitly designed for full-size electric vehicles. It incorporates the battery pack in the chassis, with full underbody panels and an active diffuser for aerodynamics.
The all-wheel-drive system is brought to us by two electric motors, one in the bow and one in the stern. The Revolution concept also has four-wheel steering with up to 15-degrees of articulation and can do the trendy crab walk, a la the Ultium-based GM Hummer that debuted a year ago. Although battery pack ratings and power figures are still unknown, Stellantis hints at 500 miles of range for their new EV truck.
Bottom line? Stellantis is late to the game with an electric pickup. Remember this is a concept vehicle, so actual Ram 1500 Revolutions may differ from what you see here when it debuts in late 2024, eons in terms EV years. Although GM debuted the Hummer EV concept in late 2020 and the Rivian debuted a year later, the Ford Lightening will be credited as the first volume EV hauler. Unlike its competitors, the Blue Oval entry is not bleeding edge technology, although a credible effort from the company.
So if you must have an electric pickup truck now, head on down to your Ford dealer and get a new Lightning. If you want the newest mousetrap, see Rivian, GM, Dodge, and Tesla in that order. Bring lots of money too. Although no word on the RAM’s MSRP, Lightenings are listing for over $100,000 and we can expect the same when the Ram R1500 evolution debuts in two years.
