Was there supposed to be a 2027 Ram HD electric pickup truck lineup? Some additional news comes to light that sparks this discussion. AutoNews reports that two major tier-1 automotive suppliers (‘Valeo’ and ‘American Axle & Manufacturing’) are tangled in a lawsuit that has to do with building electric axles (motors, axles, and inverters) for a heavy-duty pickup truck that is no longer happening. Here is what we know and don’t know about this.
The existing $25M lawsuit that ‘Valeo’ filed against ‘American Axle & Manufacturing’ does involve Stellantis or Ram Trucks directly. Valeo does reference 2027 heavy-duty Ram truck in the lawsuit. Ram Trucks does not have any comment on this matter.
At this point, we have no other information that supports a 2027 Ram HD electric truck. The only official information we have came from a Stellantis CEO that is no longer there – Carlos Tavares. Stellantis made a statement at 2023 CES about working on a hydrogen fuel-cell heavy-duty propulsion system with a different company (Symbio).
The energy needs of a heavy-duty pickup truck are different from smaller vehicles. HD pickup trucks carry heavy loads and often carry them over long distances. This is why turbo-diesel engines still make a lot of sense. Hydrogen fuel-cell system can also make sense because hydrogen can be quickly refueled. However, there are other issues with making hydrogen production and hydrogen fuel stations viable on a large scale.
Carlos Tavares is no longer at the company, so these plans may have changed. Stellantis says that the company continues to pursue a variety of propulsion systems for their vehicles that include internal combustion, hybrid, and electric powertrains. We can see this as Ram has a lineup of current gasoline, diesel, and upcoming hybrid/electric trucks. We are supposed to learn more about the Ram 1500 Ramcharger within several months.
We created several renderings of what a future Ram HD electric truck may look like. What do you think?
The automotive industry is in flux as we speak. Many manufacturers have been marching to current plans, many of which had to do with more stringent emissions controls that go into effect for 2027 U.S. vehicles. These U.S. emissions regulations may or may not exist. We will have to wait and see how this plays out.
Not to worry. Ram, Cummins, and ZF are producing many very capable 2025 Ram HD pickup trucks. Kase and I take this new Ram HD 3500 Cummins turbo-diesel on a Davis Dam grade for some heavy real-world testing.
