In recent years we have noticed an annoying trend. Automakers have developed a bad habit of unveiling new models that they don’t plan to release for a long time. In some cases, it takes more than a year from the time a vehicle is unveiled until it actually hits the market. To make matters worse, some of those vehicles are delayed. Such is the case with a few Stellantis products.
The all-electric Ram 1500 REV premiered in February 2023, but even though it’s November 2024, deliveries have yet to begin. The same can be said about the Ramcharger, an electric truck with a V-6 gasoline engine that increases range. It premiered in November 2023, and even though a year has passed, you still can’t drive it home. Both pickups are expected to hit the market before the end of this year. They have now been pushed back to the first half of 2025.
On a call with reporters, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said the auto conglomerate has a lot on its plate and needs to shake things up: “We are facing a very significant workload and we want to be very careful in the way we validate the products, so we take our time. We control the peak between the products in front of us.”
Ram could certainly use some new vehicles considering its lackluster sales this year. Through September, deliveries in the United States fell by as much as 24%. But even Tavares admits that these electric trucks are unlikely to make a big difference, given the tepid adoption of electric vehicles in the US: “This does not mean that we expect very strong demand, because we see that the market is not responds very quickly.”
The problem with the 1500 isn’t just the delayed rollout of the REV and Ramcharger. There are also quality problems with the conventionally powered truck. In July 2024, Stellantis’ head honcho admitted that too many brand new pickups needed repairs right after they left the assembly line at the Sterling Heights factory in Michigan.
Only the current-generation model is available after Ram ended production of the 1500 Classic at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant last month, marking the end of the Hemi V-8 in the 1500.