Ram's all-electric pickup truck has been delayed again. The 1500 REV will officially launch in 2026, pushed back at least another six months from its previous delay announced in November. Ram doesn't narrow the timeframe any further than that, leaving a 12-month window for the overdue battery-electric truck to finally go on sale.
Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told reporters the company was "facing a very significant amount of workload" while acknowledging that demand for electric pickup trucks had waned in the US. Earlier in the year, he also spoke about quality concerns with Ram trucks that could have a ripple effect. Of course, things have changed with the company since Tavares said these things, the biggest being his sudden resignation at the beginning of December and the rehiring of Tim Kuniskis to lead Ram.
The takeaway from this delay is that Ram's other electric truck, the 1500 Ramcharger, will now launch first. It's slated to arrive sometime in the first half of 2025, driven by "overwhelming consumer interest," according to a press release from Stellantis. Whereas the Ram 1500 REV is purely battery-electric, the Ramcharger has a range-extending V-6 engine to charge the 92 kWh battery. Dual electric motors turn the front and rear wheels, generating a combined output of 663 horsepower and 615 pound-feet of torque. With the engine in the mix, the truck has a range of 690 miles. On battery power alone, Ram is targeting 145 miles.
The news comes at a time when Ram sorely needs a win. Kuniskis flat-out said the company was getting its "ass kicked," with sales down 24 percent through 2024. A slow rollout of the refreshed Ram 1500, especially in higher trim levels, has been identified as part of the problem.
But the absence of the Hemi V-8—an engine that apparently only Tavares wanted to kill—is a gigantic elephant in the room. Will it return to the lineup? At this point, it feels like the real question isn't if it's coming back, but when.
Source: Ram
