Ram electric truck comes with its own gas generator | Editorial | Editorials
FILE – The Ram 1500 Revolution battery-electric pickup truck is displayed on stage during Stellantis’ keynote at the CES technology show on Jan. 5, 2023 in Las Vegas. Tensions escalated in contract talks between the United Auto Workers union and Stellantis on Tuesday, August 8, as the union president accused the company of seeking concessions in contract talks when the union wants gains, as the threat of a strike in September looms. (AP Photo/John Loescher, File)
The new electric truck will come with its own gas generator to improve reliability. This may sound like a headline from The Onion. But it’s not a joke.
Stellantis makes Ram trucks. The company recently announced a new electric version called the Ramcharger. It has an electric battery – and a 27-gallon gas tank. This gas is used to recharge the battery, giving the truck a range of up to 690 miles. Of that, only 145 miles come from a charged electric battery. The rest comes from gasoline, which recharges the electric battery.
Rarely do you get such a perfect view of the shortcomings of the current electric vehicle market. Electric vehicles are reliable – as long as your tank is full. Buy an electric car to reduce emissions and be sure to stop at the gas station. No need to find a charger for your electric car on the road, just fill it up.
The whole thing is even more ridiculous considering that Stellantis is simply responding to government mandates. For nearly four decades, the federal government has been telling automakers how many miles per gallon their vehicle fleet should average by imposing corporate average fuel economy standards.
Last year, the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued new standards for cars and light trucks. By model year 2026, the industry fleet average should reach about 49 mpg.
In July, bureaucrats proposed tougher CAFE standards. By 2032, cars and light trucks should average fleetwide 58 mpg. Heavy-duty trucks, like Ram, must increase their fuel efficiency by 10 percent annually between 2030 and 2035.
Suddenly, an electric truck powered by a gas generator makes a lot more sense. Stellantis has found an innovative way to stick to the letter of the regulations while still giving its customers the reliability of fossil fuels.
Ramcharger will increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet, allowing it to sell the product most of its customers want – gasoline-powered trucks.
It is unfortunate that such creative thinking is not spent on designing products that people want, rather than jumping through hurdles set by government bureaucrats. These mandates lead to higher prices for all vehicles. This is the inevitable result when companies have to build products that consumers don’t want to sell products they do want.
This absurdity also exposes the problems created by the Supreme Court allowing Congress to ignore constitutional limits on its authority and then delegating its authority to bureaucrats.
The electric car revolution has been primarily based on fossil fuels. The new Ramcharger cuts out the middleman.
