Ram announced its forthcoming 1500 electric pickup truck, which is slated to go into production in fall 2022. The new electric truck is expected to be one of the first big long-haul EVs to come out of Stellantis, the multinational conglomerate formed last year when Fiat Chrysler merged with France’s PSA group.
The decision to tease the electric Ram 1500 is clearly a shot at Ford, which will begin delivering its much-anticipated F-150 Lightning truck to customers this week. “Time to steal some thunder,” Ram tweeted, a clear nod to Ford and its Blitz-branded electric vehicle.
It’s a little less clumsy than the last time Ram teased the electric 1500, when it actually left some of the vehicle’s design outlines in the teaser image, showing more of the truck than the automaker’s marketing team probably would have preferred. Ram also makes a ProMaster electric delivery truck that will join Amazon’s fleet in 2023.
When it launches later this year, the Ram 1500 EV will be among the few electric trucks available to customers, including the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T. General Motors plans to launch the Chevy Silverado EV next year, as does Tesla with its long-delayed Cybertruck. Pickup trucks are one of the most popular and fastest growing segments in the US automotive market.
Stellantis, which is slower to embrace electric vehicles than its US and European peers, is just beginning to put some momentum into its new line of electric vehicles. The company, which is the world’s fourth-largest automaker, last year announced a sweeping plan to electrify the lineup of most of its brands, including EV versions of popular Dodge muscle cars and several Jeep models.