Ram learning from start of electric pickup battle

NEW YORK — General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have laid down the gauntlet in the electric pickup space on range and performance.

Stellantis’ Ram brand, still two years away from releasing its own battery-powered pickup, can’t beat them on timing, so it’s working on setting a new benchmark instead.

Ram will be watching closely as Ford starts selling the F-150 Lightning this month, and its designers and engineers are using the lag to learn what consumers really want from an electric pickup.

The brand, using insights gleaned from its Ram Revolution insider program and a series of town hall conversations called the Ram Real Talk Tour, hopes to swoop in with a superior offering after its rivals cultivate a market that barely exists today. It plans to show an electric pickup concept for the first time this year.

Ram CEO Mike Koval said the brand will pair what it learns from pickup owners with the knowledge it already has about the capabilities of competitors’ options. Koval believes this combination gives it an edge leading up to the Ram electric pickup’s slated 2024 release.

“We’re fanning out across the country,” Koval told Automotive News. “Our designers and engineers are going out and talking to actual real people and gathering that feedback and intelligence.

“That’s really where I think Ram is going to separate ourselves from the rest is with the full knowledge of what our competitors are doing. We will push past our competitors in terms of those important metrics like towing and hauling and, in the future, charge time, range and things of this nature.”

Rivian kick-started the U.S. electric pickup segment last fall with the R1T, which was followed by the GMC Hummer EV in December. Ford is launching the F-150 Lightning on April 26, about a year before the scheduled release of the Chevrolet Silverado EV. Tesla this month said it would launch its Cybertruck in 2023, which also would put it ahead of Ram.

Coming to the market a little later means Ram could have added pressure to stand out. Joining the fray after the Ford and GM pickups will “require Ram to bring something distinctively new,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions.