Dodge Ram PHEV
Chrysler announced this morning that the Dodge would be a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) based on the awesome new Dodge Ram. 140 Ram PHEV’s will be built with the backing of a US Dept. of Energy grant for up to $48 million as part of the $2.4 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act DOE Vehicle Electrification program. Once completed, this fleet of super-efficient Dodge Rams will be used for a three-year demonstration across the United States. There is no clear time frame given for the build project but one of the key points of this project is to “demonstrate how rapidly this type of advanced technology can be brought to market”, leading me to believe that they will be out quickly.
The Dodge Ram PHEV will be powered by the 5.7L Hemi V8, making 390 horsepower and 407lb-ft of torque mated to a two-mode hybrid transmission and a 12KwHr lithium ion battery. Dodge claims that this setup allows you to drive up to 20 miles purely on electric power and during the span of normal daily driving this configuration should yield around 65% better fuel economy than the standard Hemi Ram. As the owner of a Hemi Ram, I have to wonder how well the hefty truck gets along running only on the electric motor – at least with the goal of driving 20 miles without using any gasoline. An increase of 65% to my truck would put me in the range of 38mpg but I think that the key feature is going to be the added cost to the consumer.
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