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Ram wants its midsize truck situation 'fixed soon'

The rumors of a midsize Ram pickup are like a metronome — sometimes in motion, sometimes dead. This week the rumor is alive, so reports Automotive News. Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley admitted during an earnings call that the lack of a mid-sizer is "a clear hole in our portfolio," and that the Ram product development team is "focused on it." Puzzling that out means finding "a cost-effective platform in a region where we can build it with low cost and it still being applicable in the market." But he wants a solution found soon. During the product roadmap presentation FCA made in June last year, late CEO Sergio Marchionne said the middling pickup would be built in Mexico. That tidbit came after years of Marchionne saying the brand would get in the segment, only to have the idea shot down by Ram bosses. At the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, a year after the midsize Dodge Dakota went off the market, Marchionne said the brand would reinstate a new-generation Dakota, with a better-than-50% chance it would be unibody. In 2013, then-Ram president Reid Bigland said the chances were tiny because the numbers didn't add up. The two men got on the same page, in favor of, in 2014. In March 2016, Marchionne said, "I like that space a lot," and "It's a good space to be in." Exactly one month later, then-Ram CEO Bog Hegbloom said the idea was dead because he couldn't make a business case for it. Come early 2018, even Marchionne had joined the naysayers. He told Automobile, "We did not think it was necessary to re-enter that market after our last experience." The snag was, and remains, that a smaller truck has "a cost structure very similar to our Ram 1500. We have not found an economic way to get this done." Four months later, there's a midsize pickup on the product roadmap. Then, at this year's New York Auto Show, Ram Trucks boss Jim Morrison told us Ram had no plans yet for a smaller pickup, although the division continues to look at its options. Last September an Automotive News report forecast the truck to be built in Toledo alongside the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator pickup. When Car and Driver asked for clarification about Toledo or Mexico, FCA pointed to Marchionne's comments referring to Mexico. It appears that's the angle Manley and his team are still trying to make work. The Saltillo, Mexico, assembly plant now builds Ram's heavy-duty trucks, but observers expect HD production to move to the U.S. to make room for the smaller pickup.

2020 Ram Heavy Duty Limited Black Edition answers the call of the void

Ram buyers overcome by the lure of the Sith or the call of the void when configuring their pickups have had a variety of ways to go dark on their trucks, from 1500 to the heavy duty line. Now the 2020 Ram 2500 and 3500 HD's top Limited trim is getting access to all the darkness possible with the Black Edition, creating a truck that says "lights out" in about six different ways. The package blacks out the heavy duty rigs entirely, starting with the black grille with black RAM lettering, black bumpers front and back, black tow hooks, black door handles, black side-view trailer tow mirrors, black bezels around the LED headlights and taillights, dark-tinted taillights, and matte badges. Any colored lenses, such as the clearance lights above the cab, are clear. Because on the Ram Heavy Duty Black Edition, black means black. The Black Edition can be optioned on the Ram 2500 or 3500 in 4x2 or 4x4, in single- or dual-rear-wheel trims. When outfitted with single wheels in back, the Black Edition sits on 20-inch black wheels. When dual wheels hang off the back axle, buyers will find 17-inch black wheels with machined eyelets. Engine choices are the regular trio of 6.4-liter Hemi V8 with 410 horsepower and 429 pound-feet of torque, the normal 6.7-liter Cummins straight-six diesel making 370 hp and 850 lb-ft, or a high-output version of the 6.7-liter restricted to the 3500 that puts out 400 hp and 1,000 lb-ft. The three-quarter- and one-ton darkness rolls into dealerships in a few months starting at $64,440 for the Ram 2500 2,745 after a $1,695 destination charge. That's a $1,095 premium over the standard Limited Trim. Assuming the same premium for the Ram 3500 Black Edition means a starting price of $65,790. Related Video:    

Stellantis aims to eliminate separate inverter, charger to improve EV efficiency

Stellantis has announced that, in collaboration with French battery company Saft and French National Center for Scientific Research, has made significant progress in eliminating two major components of an electric vehicle powertrain: the on-board charger and the power inverter for the motor. The company claims that doing this will allow for better space use in vehicles, as well as improvements in efficiency, cost and reliability of components. As a quick primer, also explained in the below video, the on-board charger and power inverter are sort of translators to get the right current to different parts of the electric powertrain. The on-board charger takes AC power from the grid and converts it to DC to charge the batteries. Then when power goes from the batteries to the electric motor, the power inverter converts that DC power back to AC. These components aren't exactly small. Frequently you'll find them packaged somewhere under the hood. What Stellantis and its cohorts have developed, and have been using on a test vehicle since last summer, are small power inverter boards that can be mounted very closely to the battery packs. They can handle both conversion needs, for charging and discharging, instead of needing two separate devices. The most obvious perk to this is that you can do away with those traditional components and free up more space, either for making smaller vehicles without losing interior volume, or adding space to a vehicle that wouldn't have had it otherwise. There's the additional benefit of reduced weight, something that EVs struggle with. Stellantis also claims improvements in efficiency, reliability, and cost, however, it didn't go into detail as to how this setup would do that exactly. We'll try to get in touch with representatives from Stellantis in order to get more information. We're still a ways out from seeing this technology in production Stellantis vehicles. The company said it aims to apply it to vehicles by the end of the decade. Saft is also looking at using it on stationary battery systems as well. So maybe we'll see it on a 2029 Ram 1500 REV, but for now, we'll be living with traditional chargers and inverters. Related Video: Green Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat RAM Technology Electric