“It’s not a hybrid.”
“I wouldn’t call this a hybrid.”
“I don’t call it a hybrid; I call it a battery-electric vehicle with an onboard generator.”
“I’m never gonna call that an engine. I’m gonna call it an onboard charger.”
Ram took the wraps off a refresh of its Ram 1500 truck lineup today. It showed restyled work trucks, luxury trucks, and sport trucks. It showed off gas-powered models, all-electric trucks, and a step in-between called the Ramcharger.
By our count, Ram Brand CEO Tim Kuniskis and his executive team took at least nine chances to explain that the 2025 Ramcharger is not a hybrid. We’re gonna call it that, anyway.
Let’s dive deeper into the new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Ram and other reworked Ram pickups.
A Restyle, Not a Redesign
Ram did not redesign the 1500 from the ground up for 2025. What you see here is an unusually intensive refresh. Done at the midpoint of a new design’s run, a refresh typically leaves the chassis and much of the powertrain intact. But it means new styling outside and in, and sometimes new creature comforts to catch a vehicle up with newly redesigned competition.
Ram did not touch the basic structure of the 1500 for 2025. But they have made more extensive changes than a typical midcycle refresh.
Ram gave no pricing information about any of the models it showed off.
All wore a new grille with the Ram logo mounted higher. New LED headlamps are standard on the Limited trim and higher, and the trick multifunction tailgate has gained the capability to detect obstacles.
Inside, every model gets the option of an enormous 14.5-inch central touchscreen, and many trim levels get the option of a smaller passenger-side screen as well.
Splitting the Lineup
A truck is a tool. But no one tool fixes everything.
Ram is essentially splitting the 1500 lineup into three parts, Kuniskis said.
The “core lineup” will consist of the same Tradesman, Big Horn, and other models that longtime fans are familiar with. Other lineups will include sport trucks and luxury trucks.
They all get one huge change that will break some hearts. But Ram executives insist that drivers will understand once they experience the new truck.
Death of the Hemi
The 2025 Ram 1500 will not be offered with a V8 engine. The Hemi is no more.
Buyers can still get the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 with a mild hybrid system. Ram hasn’t disclosed output, but we assume it’s unchanged from the 305 horsepower found in today’s base model.
Upgrades will also be 6-cylinder engines. The new Hurricane family of inline 6-cylinder engines takes the Hemi’s place.
A 3.0-liter Hurricane engine is rated at 420 horsepower and 469 lb-ft of torque. At the extreme end, a high-output turbocharged Hurricane engine is rated at 540 horsepower and 521 lb-ft of torque.
All three come mated to the same TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic transmission.
“Capability includes a maximum towing capacity of 11,580 pounds, a maximum payload of 2,300 pounds, and up to 24 inches of water fording,” Ram says.
No More TRX
The blows keep coming for the Ram faithful. Ram will (at least temporarily) retire the TRX name for 2025. In its place, the sport truck lineup will be capped off by a new model — the Ram RHO.
“It’s identical to the TRX,” Kuniskis explained, “Except, instead of a supercharged Hemi, it’s gonna have the Hurricane SHO powertrain in it.”
Kuniskis noted the RHO isn’t called the Ram RHinO but said, “There may be some rhino easter eggs in there” for sharp-eyed observers. The TRX name is gone, he said, because “I would never call something a TRX if it was down in power.”
And it is down in power. The RHO peaks at 540 horsepower — well below the 702 of the final TRX.
But he insisted customers wouldn’t notice the different powertrain if they never opened the hood.
As for the TRX name? “We’ll put that on the shelf for a little while. We’ll see if we do anything with that later. Maybe,” he said.
Meet the Ram Tungsten
The news wasn’t all discontinued features and models, though. Ram introduced an all-new super-luxury model to the lineup, the Ram 1500 Tungsten.
It will be easy to spot. The Tungsten gets its own entirely new front fascia with a more integrated bumper for a more elegant look. Inside, the design theme is “indigo and sea salt.”
Ram’s description of the model reads more like a new Mercedes S-Class version than a truck, including “heated and ventilated premium quilted Natura Plus leather driver and front passenger seats with 24-way power, including memory settings and a massage function, power lumbar support and 4-way powered headrests” and a 23-speaker Klipsch Reference Premiere audio system.
And the Ramcharger Plug-In Hybrid
But Ram saved the biggest news for last.
It’s worth spending a moment on what, exactly, the Ramcharger is.
Kuniskis insists it’s a fully electric vehicle with an onboard generator to extend its range. You can recharge its battery from a wall outlet or a public electric vehicle (EV) charger. That sounds suspiciously like a PHEV. But calling it something else isn’t just marketing speak.
That’s because the onboard generator — the same Pentastar V6 on the base model Ram — never actually powers the wheels. It serves solely as a generator, kicking on when needed to recharge the battery.
That’s a different approach than most PHEVs take. In most PHEVs, the electric motor and the gasoline engine can power the wheels. In the Ramcharger, only the truck’s electric motors power the wheels.
“There’s no connection between this generator assembly and the wheels,” explains Ram Chief Engineer Doug Killian.
That’s not an entirely new approach. It’s how the Chevy Volt used to work and how some planned Mazda PHEVs will reportedly work. Engineers call it a “series hybrid.” But, to buyers, it has a plug and a gas tank, so PHEV is the easiest way to explain it.
It sets the Ramcharger apart from Ram’s other EV, the Ram 1500 REV, which is a more conventional EV with no gasoline engine.
The system puts out 663 horsepower and allows the truck to leap to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds, Killian says.
Ram didn’t explain how far the Ramcharger can travel on electric power alone before the generator kicks in. But the company says the system, with a full gas tank, is good for 690 miles.
It’s rated to tow 14,000 pounds with a Class V tow hitch, Ram says — more than the 2024 gas-powered Ram 1500.
The Most Complete Truck Lineup?
Today’s announcements are just a midcycle refresh. But they’re also something more.
This new plan gives Ram, under the 1500 name, a full lineup of work trucks, sport trucks, and luxury trucks, with gas-powered options, a fully electric option, and a plug-in hybrid version combining the best of both.
No other automaker has so complete a truck lineup.
