2012 Ram 1500 Slt on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Ram to debut electric truck concept this fall

Another day, another tease. Ram is clearly enjoying the super-slow reveal of its upcoming electric pickup truck, but at least this time they've included a date. Sort of; it's actually a season, not a specific date. We assume the exacting timing will be clarified in the coming months, but in a tweet today, Ram says we should expect the teasing to end and will debut an electric concept in the fall of 2022. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. We also get a new and predictably dark view of the truck, this time a straight-on shot of the EV hauler's face. As before, the highlights are all lit up, which we are currently assuming means they are the actual lighting elements. The R-A-M lettering in the middle of the grille is similarly radiant, which again makes us think it will be that way for the production version. We don't yet know its official name. We've been told the truck will go into production in 2024, that it will use the STLA Frame EV platform with a battery capacity up to 101-118 kWh and a range of up to 500 miles. That means prospective buyers will have quite a wait ahead of them even after it makes its official debut. By that time, the Ford Lightning should be a fairly common sight on America's roadways, the Hummer EV will have been on sale for a couple of years and the Chevy Silverado EV will similarly be ready to make its appearance. Ram is also promising to have a range-extended electric truck to show off, but we don't yet know if that will make its online debut this fall alongside the full EV. Lastly, we're not entirely sure what "thunder" Ram is stealing with its teaser and date announcement today. It could be a little shade thrown in the direction of the electrified Corvette, which was also announced today, or it could just be a play on words since Ford's truck is called the F-150 Lightning. We suppose it doesn't much matter, though. Thunder, shade, rain or snow, we're just happy to see the electrified truck game continue to intensify. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Ram 1500 to get Pentastar V6 option in top-shelf models

Ram has seen such positive customer feedback from its 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 and TorqueFlight eight-speed automatic transmission in the Ram 1500 that it's bringing the powertrain upmarket, and it's now going to be available in truck's Laramie trim level (Laramie Limited pictured above). The new choice means better fuel economy and lower pricing in one of the 1500's higher-end models.
A Ram 1500 Laramie Quad Cab 4x2 with the 3.6-liter Pentastar and eight-speed automatic will retail for $38,775, plus a $1,195 destination charge. It's a savings of over $1,000 over the trim's current starting price.
Ram says the decision to offer the V6 option was customer driven. "Today's V6 engine is a lot stronger than yesterday," said Nick Cappa of Ram Truck media relations to Autoblog. Cappa notes that dealers have reported buyers returning from test drives who can't believe there are only six cylinders operating underhood.

Only in Japan: Dodge van one-make racing series is a thing

Japan seems willing to embrace a level of automotive insanity that many other places lack. Whether it's 1,200-horsepower Nissan GT-Rs blasting through tight, tree-lined mountain roads or advertisements with dances for the Toyota Prius Plug-in, the country definitely has a unique way of expressing a love for autos. The D-Van Grand Prix might be one of our favorite examples yet of crazy Japanese car culture, because the annual, one-make race at the Ebisu Circuit is exclusively for heavily customized Dodge vans. Like many great things, this wonderfully crazy idea came from a little rule breaking. D-Van Grand Prix organizer Takuro Abe was at a track event for a motorcycle racing school, and vans were used to haul the bikes around. During lunch someone came up with the idea for a race. Ignoring that the big machines weren't actually allowed on the circuit, the drivers headed out. The popularity has just grown since then. These days, the racing vans absolutely aren't the stock machines from the event's inspiration. In addition to stripped interiors and track rubber that you might expect, the list of mods for them is a mile long. For every possible advantage, the racers fit them with things like Brembo brakes, cross-drilled rotors, heavy-duty transmissions, and much more. Seeing vans lumbering around the track is very weird at first, but the racers take the competition very seriously. These folks even employ all sorts of little tricks to coax the most from the machines. This is a fascinating motorsports story, but be sure to turn on the subtitles to understand the interviews with the competitors.