⚡️🔋Current Events 4/5/23: Ram 1500 REV @ NYIA, Reports of A New Mass Market Tesla, Rivian Goes on Safari.

The NY International Auto Show debuts a new EV Pickup, whispers of the newest vehicle design from Tesla, and the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust unveils its fleet.

Good evening everyone,

Welcome back to Current Events, where we bring you news and lore from the world of electrification. I’ve been a little under the weather the past two days, but since we have some new vehicle information today I can feel a little spring in my step. Let’s get to it.

An Electric Ram at the New York International Auto Show

Courtesy of @rpmautomobile on Instagram

This morning at the New York International Auto Show, Stellantis finally gave the world a look at the 2025 Ram 1500 REV pickup truck and shared some finer details on the specs. While it’s certainly not the first mover in the segment, it’s clearly aiming to upstage the currently available options like F-150 Lightning or Rivian R1T. The vehicle has been teased for a while, even going so far as to show off a teaser during Super Bowl Sunday. Reservations have opened for what Ram calls the “Ram REV Insider+” Program, which will allow the subscribers to preorder the car once production begins at some point in late 2024.

2025 Ram 1500 REV Announced Specs as of 4/5/23:

• Built on the STLA Frame platform, comes in 5 trims

• 800-volt system

• Standard Battery Pack Capacity of 168 kWh

• Large Battery Pack Capacity of 229 kWh

• 563 km / 350 mi Estimated Range for the Standard Pack

• 805 km / 500 mi Estimated Range for the Large Pack

• 0 - 60 mph in 4.4 seconds

• 482 kW Peak Power / 620 lb-ft of Torque

• Up to 61 cm or 24 inches of water fording depth

  

  Courtesy of Stellantis

• Bed Length of 170 cm / 5 ft, 7 in; features “RamBox” bedside compartments

• Max Payload of 1225 kg / 2700 lbs in the bed

• Frunk provides 15.0 cubic feet of storage and 3.6 kW onboard power panel

• Ram claims the truck will have Vehicle-to-Grid capability for blackout usage although hasn’t stated any power output other than from the frunk.

• Maximum Towing Capacity of 6350 kg / 14,000 lbs

Courtesy of Stellantis

• 3 Dashboard Displays

  • 37 cm or 14.5-inch Central Touchscreen

  • 31 cm or 12.3-inch Driver Display

  • 26 cm or 10.25-inch Front-Passenger Entertainment Touchscreen

• 350 kW peak charge power, Ram claims a charging speed of 110 miles in 10 minutes

• Available Hands-Free Active Driving Assist, Level 2 Autonomy

• Deliveries Only in Q4 of 2024

Like many of the announcements we’ve seen over the past few years, the specs and looks are in some ways compelling while the timing of production and core innovations remains somewhat disappointing. This truck seems benchmarked to take on the F-150 Lightning and the R1T depending on the pricing. Many speculate that the base trim will fall around $58,000, with the top trim heading up to the $100k mark. Unfortunately, this assumed price point is far too high if the goal is to convert their current ICE pickup customers to their new BEV options. Lastly, the amount of battery supply they need to build a single unit is concerning; 229 kWh for 500 miles is a deeply inefficient EV product for today’s market, let alone for one projected for full production in 2025. Nonetheless, we reserve judgment until they actually announce pricing instead of relying on assumptions. Good luck to the Ram team as they prepare for production in the coming year.

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New Whispers of the Future Low-Priced Tesla Model

Courtesy of Tesla Inc.

A new report from 36Kr, a “new economy” news site from China, claims to have learned from industry insiders that Tesla is planning a gargantuan product map for a new lower-priced vehicle. Specifically, they mention plans for a smaller crossover to the Model Y with a planned production capacity of 4 million vehicles per year. They also claim the pricing for the vehicle will fall around 150,000 CN¥ or about $21,750 USD and the production is, “at least a year away.” Tesla had previously stated years ago that they are hoping to achieve 180 miles of range with this smaller vehicle so that is the current running estimate.

For context, Tesla’s goal is to produce and deliver 2 million vehicles by the end of 2023. Correction: Tesla’s most recent current guidance stated that they are targeting deliveries of 1.8 million vehicles in 2023, not 2 million. While Elon Musk stated in January that 2 million deliveries was still theoretically possible absent external disruptions, that was not official guidance and the statement during the call may have confused my research. Thank you to the kind subscriber who helped me to correct this!

36Kr claims the capacity is to be distributed among its global factories with the incoming Monterey facility being responsible for 2 million units per year while Shanghai and Berlin each produce 1 million per year. It’s unclear how the Austin plant will be utilized for the product in these alleged plans, but given it’s a short distance away from the new factory in Mexico, we can expect a lot of Tesla Semi trucks caravanning tools and components between the facilities.

Low-cost EVs cannot come soon enough so here’s to hoping Tesla is uncharacteristically early again like they were with Model Y. It seems unlikely that Cybertruck technology will be implemented in this smaller vehicle but that too remains a mystery.

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Electrified Conservation

Courtesy of Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

On October 13, 2022, the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust (MWCT) announced a pilot program with Rivian to acquire several R1T’s dedicated to electrifying the institution’s efforts in vital conservation work, including use in “quiet anti-poaching patrols, zero tailpipe-emissions transport for Maasai firefighters and critical on-and off-road rangers’ operations, to health and education programs.” The program also uses solar energy to power the vehicles so neither the electricity source nor the direct use of the vehicle will pollute the local environment.

Yesterday, I got a glimpse into just one of their four incredible, highly modified R1Ts through photos that have been making rounds in the many forums throughout social media. Let’s not mince words, it’s one of the coolest modifications I’ve yet seen of any EV, let alone an R1T.

Courtesy of Jake and Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

It’s converted to a right-hand drive to adhere to the local traffic regulations but besides that, the modifications are comically obvious. They chopped off and replaced the roof for open-air seating, and changed the seating formation to four rows of two for a total of eight passengers. The doors have had their glass removed and the front windshield is also sliced in half. The weight and shape have changed dramatically so safe to say the original specs probably aren’t accurate anymore regarding range. That said, not much would have changed at all in how the R1T handles offroad terrain, which is to say incredibly.

Courtesy of the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust

Best of luck to the MWCT in their conservation and anti-poaching efforts and to Rivian in support of them. I hope Rivian expands on these efforts going forward for other critically important biomes.

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Thanks for reading and being a part of the Current Events community, where I write hoping to guide people through the world of electrification. Your support for this project means everything.

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With love and gratitude,

Renato

If you’d like to learn more about the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, here is the link to the MWCT website.

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Renato A. Amboss is the author of Current Events, The All-Electric Newsletter. He is also the Founder and First Pilot of Ronin EV. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are his own. None of the views expressed are intended as investment advice of any kind and should not be taken as such. Have a lovely day!