During his presentation at the U.S. Department of Energy 2011 Merit Review in Washington, D.C., Chrysler’s Abdullah Bazzi described the Ram as a blended plug-in hybrid, saying that it doesn’t run exclusively on electric power during its charge-depletion period. Chrysler claims that the Ram plug-in has an equivalent electric-only range of more than 20 miles and a fuel economy rating that exceeds 32 miles per gallon in charge-depleting mode. The plug-in Ram comes packing a 5.7-liter Hemi V8 gasoline engine, a two-mode hybrid transmission, a 12.9 kWh battery pack and a 6.6 kilowatt charger.
The Ram plug-in project is a $97.4-million effort. Partial funding for the Ram comes from a $48-million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act DOE Vehicle Electrification Program and a $5-million grant from the Canadian government. The government monies, along with cash from Chrysler, will be combined to eventually field a test fleet of 140 plug-in trucks.
[Source: Green Car Congress]
