Over the past several months, established automakers and upstarts alike have been heralding the paradigm shift toward electric trucks, while pitching their own creations as the best possible option for the green-minded truck buyer. Many favor Tesla to win the EV truck race, while startup Rivian has made its own waves. Even Ford and GM have thrown their hats in the ring, but there has always been an elephant in the room.
Where is a Ram electric pickup in all this?
Fiat Chrysler has been eerily quiet on the subject, even as its competitors ramp up their R&D into what is, by most accounts, a new era in the truck industry. Some of those on a recent earnings call asked CEO Mike Manley why the company has been mum on an EV pickup. He responded that FCA won’t do nothing, but, as Bloomberg notes, they’ll keep an eye on the market. “Pickup is a key franchise for us and we’re not going to sit on the sidelines if there’s a danger that our position gets diluted,” he said.
Essentially, they may ultimately do it, but the company isn’t going to blink first. We’ve seen that in Fiat Chrysler’s hesitation toward transitioning to EVs, as well as what they have done. After all, we’re expecting a massive, supercharged V8-powered Ram TRX to arrive in the coming weeks, and one of the firm’s most lauded reveals is an equally supercharged Dodge Durango Hellcat.
FCA is not completely out of contention, but will it be too late for Ram?
That’s not to say that FCA has been entirely absent from the electrification game. The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, for example, is a solid plug-in hybrid. That sort of technology is also rolling out to the Jeep brand in the Wrangler, Renegade and Compass by way of their “4xe” models. The U.S.-defunct Fiat 500e also sold here as an urban runabout.
However, there is the question of whether that ethos will saturate into Ram electric trucks. The brand is a huge boon for the automaker, and Manley is keenly aware of its importance when it comes to fending off attacks from both Ford and General Motors. But his company won’t be the first to blink by jumping into EVs with both feet, particularly as the market has yet to decide whether trucks are a viable path for the technology. Will truck shoppers from California to Texas, the Midwest to New York come around to the likes of the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer EV or even an electric Ford F-150?
Time will tell whether a Ram electric pickup, or at least a full hybrid or plug-in model, ultimately makes its way to your local dealer. Current rumors suggest FCA is developing new electric models. It’s unclear at this point whether one of those vehicles is going to fall under the Ram banner. Will a decision to wait and watch the market mean FCA winds up late to the game?
Would you hold out for a Ram electric truck over any of the supposed competition over the next few years? Let us know what you think below. In EV truck news, the latest update we’ve gotten concerns the GMC Hummer EV:
