Everything we know about the new pickup truck

Late last week, the striking United Auto Workers of America union announced a new tentative labor agreement with Ford and Stellantis (and this week with General Motors) that will end the strike by employees of those automakers. The new deals with Ford and Stellantis secure record pay increases, expanded benefits, and broaden the scope of who those benefits apply to. The Stellantis deal specifically includes the promise of more jobs and new manufacturing with the announcement of a renewable vehicle assembly plant and a new battery manufacturing plant in the US, which will reportedly produce an all-new midsize pickup truck from a US market. Stellantis brands. Here’s everything we know about the deal and potential new truck — which could be the ultimate return for Dakota — so far.

The UAW announced on October 28 that it would end its workers’ strike against Stellantis across the United States thanks to a new tentative agreement guaranteeing a 25 percent increase in base wages, new cost-of-living adjustments, and a new strike clause related to potential plant closures, among other new and improved benefits and protections. The Stellantis deal also promises that the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which previously made the Jeep Cherokee SUV but was recently shut down in February at the cost of 1,200 local jobs, will have to get back to work in the near future with the estimated return of 1,200 local jobs. About 1,000 local job opportunities.

The promise to restart Belvedere production was followed by numerous reports of what would be assembled there; the Chicago Tribune She stated that some sources indicated that the factory had been reignited may be It will be home to a new ‘light truck’ model, but Stellantis declined to confirm any specific details or link any specific brands within its range of auto companies to the new announcement. the platform It was also reported that Stellantis was planning an adjacent battery manufacturing plant, as well as a parts distribution center alongside the Belvidere plant, with the recent state allotment of 280 acres of land nearby confirming this. In that report, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office indicated in a statement that the plant would resume production of an all-electric model, but did not specify a pickup truck.

Other ports, e.g Autoblog, confidently stated that the new Illinois production will be for a gas-powered mid-size pickup truck to be sold in the U.S. For now, all that is known for certain is that the Belvedere plant will resume production of something, likely a smaller pickup than the current Ram 1500. It can be gas, electric, or both. However, we know that limiting future and additional EV production under a common, similar or equitable labor agreement with the rest of the union has been a sticking point for the UAW in strike negotiations, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the new vehicle is electrified in some way or offers a full EV version.

The small/midsize pickup role was previously occupied by the Dakota, when Rams were still marketed and sold under the Dodge brand before being switched to its own badge in 2009. The Dodge Dakota had actually been around for two years after converting as the Ram Dakota before it was It is finally axed without replacement in 2011 due to low sales, the lack of development of anything resembling a replacement (the closest we got was a 2006 Rampage concept truck), and a difficult business case.

We then included the Ram midsize sedan in our coverage of future cars in 2021, anticipating its arrival for the 2024 model year, which may be a little early. Late last year, Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. said so Motor Trend About the company’s plans to test the waters of a potential smaller pickup truck with its dealer groups; Then, earlier this year, Ram confirmed that about 6,000 dealers had offered a preview of the well-received midsize truck, leaving us guessing that the final design would likely be decided by the end of 2023. Based on that, we’re confident moving forward Ahead is the possibility of a new midsize truck arriving, which will be branded and sold in the U.S. as Ram, perhaps with the return of the Dakota nameplate.

Ram leadership has been publicly considering looking at several different corporate vehicle platforms to support the new midsize pickup truck through September 2022, with the big decision coming between a more traditional body-on-frame “truck” body or a more lifestyle-oriented chassis. Unibody construction. In addition, Stellantis has already announced that all 14 of its brands and companies are reserved for the same four core vehicle platforms developed by the group to suit its future goals in hybrid electric and battery-electric vehicles.

From these available platforms, Ram can build a new midsize truck with varying capabilities on either the STLA-Medium, STLA-Large, or STLA-Frame platforms, with the first two options leading to smaller designs, and the latter already supporting larger models. Including the Ram 1500 REV full-size electric pickup truck. Given the fairly large size of competition in the “midsize” market such as the latest Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger, it is possible that the two new Ram trucks in the future will be built on a common platform with distinct packaging, although they are intended for different “segments” of market.

For now, Dodge, Ram and Stellantis appear to be focused on delivering an all-electric future, including the all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona coupe scheduled for production next year, and the all-electric Ram 1500 REV full-size pickup truck. It is also scheduled to be produced soon. However, it has long been rumored and reported that Stellantis also has plans for more conventional combustion-powered versions of these new vehicles as well, including leaked images of a new Charger coupe shell with what appears to be a traditional transmission tunnel cutout, and long-standing reports Which reports that the Ram 1500 REV will also be available with an extended hybrid powertrain along with the full electric version.

All of this means that we can throw any sweeping assumptions about future engine models out the window for now, as anything can happen. It seems increasingly logical for Stellantis to try to offer hybrid and all-electric powertrain options if the car is intended to hit the market relatively soon. For what it’s worth, a leak reported on Reddit in March claimed that Ram had previewed a new “midsize EV concept” to dealers. While this does not necessarily mean that he will do so Just Being an electric vehicle, we should probably expect some sort of electrified version of the new Ram truck when it finally arrives.

If the new midsize model features some form of combustion-powered model, it could include any number of variations on the company’s existing I-4, Hurricane I-6, V-6, V-8, and hybrid powertrain configurations; The company also recently revealed development plans for a new U.S. market I-3, Hurricane I-4, and Pentastar V-6 hybrid in the near future, as well as development of two new diesel engines.

If the new midsize model goes all-electric based on Ram 1500 REV technology, it could get the option of a 168-kilowatt-hour or 229-kilowatt-hour battery pack that provides up to 500 miles or more of driving range on a single charge; The battery will be a two-part 400V system connected in series to accept 800V and 350kW charging capability, and will likely be able to offer bi-directional charging as well.

If this new Ram midsize pickup ends up with combustion or hybrid drive, power output could be anything; It will likely be offered with around 300-500 horsepower, but pinpointing a specific potential engine setup is difficult since you also need to consider the platform they choose, future efficiency goals, aerodynamic impact, towing capacity, payload transfer, and everything else. The truck is supposed to do that, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Stellantis comes up with.

If this new truck is offered as an all-electric truck, things will be a little easier to predict. Based on the promised specs for the Ram 1500 REV with 168 kWh and 229 kWh battery pack configurations, we could get a total system power output of 650 hp or more; For the 1500 REV, Ram claims that both of its permanent magnet e-motors are capable of generating up to 335 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque on their own. Based on previous Ram concepts and estimates, the all-electric midsize model should target a range of 300 to 500 miles on a single charge. Payload capacity and tow rating likely won’t exceed the larger full-size 1500 REV, which is advertised at 2,700 pounds of payload and 14,000 pounds of towing in its optimized configuration.

If both ICE or hybrid and full-electric versions of the new midsize truck are developed and sold as a single model, the electric vehicle will likely serve as a more street-oriented performance benchmark, with the combustion model cleaned up for those who want shorter refueling times and potentially higher specs. Towing and payload are better. Regardless of the powertrain, all-wheel drive is guaranteed to be an available option, and we’d like to see a rear-wheel drive option as well.

As for what the thing will look like, that’s still anyone’s guess, but Stellantis head of design Ralph Gilles confirmed to Motor Trend Earlier this year, his team worked on several versions of the new truck, with one serving as the final preview and executive favorite at a dealer event earlier this year in Las Vegas, although Gilles has already teased that it may not be Final design. Depending on the design themes being implemented, Gill said he expects the design “presence” of the larger Ram 1500 REV will carry over to the smaller truck in several ways. You can see our interpretation provided of a potential Ram midsize engine inspired heavily by the larger REV above. In order to simplify production and reduce costs, we could see Ram moving toward a single body style, most likely a crew cab configuration with a 5- to 6-foot-long bed, but we’d love to be surprised by more options.

This design configuration would fit well into the current field of midsize pickup competition in the U.S., where the new midsize Ram faces off against major rivals like the recently redesigned Toyota Tacoma and the also new Ford Ranger; Neither offers an all-electric version yet, but we know Toyota is already working on a Tacoma EV that could come at any moment, and just last week it previewed a smaller EV truck that could hit the market soon.

Other notable trucks in this space that the new midsize Ram may have to contend with include the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon twins, the Jeep Gladiator and, to a lesser extent, the trendy Hyundai Santa Cruz and the increasingly popular Ford Maverick and its hybrid powertrain. option.

Depending on the final configuration of the lineup, we’re betting the starting price for the all-electric version of the midsize Ram truck will be higher than $45,000 (based on the claimed $58,000 starting price of the larger Ram 1500 REV), with any ICE or hybrid powertrain possible. The configurations will likely bring the starting price down to around $30,000.

With Ram representatives confirming that the final design of the Ram midsize truck was scheduled for this year, we can expect to see a production version sooner rather than later. That’s if the company can submit a feasibility study for the new model and get approval from Stellantis president Carlos Tavares, although the UAW factory deal seems to have confirmed that something is definitely on the way. Ram CEO Mike Koval Jr. joked that he would “do it tomorrow” if he could earlier this year, and that the earliest timeframe to expect anything would be a (most likely late) 2024 reveal, but we’re betting on expecting something. . More like 2025 for the final production.