If the Ramcharger were available when you bought your lightning...

[ZeusDriver]

Like you I had a Volt, which served me very well. If there would have been an EREV truck circa 2015-2019 or so, I would have absolutely jumped on that. The US auto industry screwed up hardcore by not coming out with a single first party EREV truck. Going through this intermediate development step when batteries were weaker and more expensive a dozen years ago made a ton of sense, and they all missed it.

Yes! Agree completely.

Honestly I'd rather have a strong (~100kW maybe, the combustion guts and MGB from a Volt, for example) generator and a small battery buffer on a "drop axle" between the truck and trailer, with a way to hook that DC direct to the BEV truck. That way I'm only carting the combustion stuff for the few trips that might need the extra range pulling a trailer. And the generator can be left elsewhere for backup power the rest of the time.

Great idea. The generator in my microcar, the Zing, was exactly the same as the drive motor, and charged up the battery via DC whenever required. For most use cases, everything worked well, the vehicle was electric-only most of the time, and for long trips the engine would run. I was aware that if i wanted to climb the Rockies, I'd have to slow down substantially... the generator ICE being only 8 HP, but the drive motor being 20 (30 peak). However, the Zing was not intended to be mainly a cross-country car. It was intended to be very high efficiency without range anxiety, and mainly for commuting.

The Ramcharger, however, is intended for long range towing, and I know from my 1990 Ford f150 days, that the 4.9 six, with about the HP likely from the 3.0 liter v6 in the Ramcharger would not be considered adequate for today's expectations. Even in the east, my Ford did not have enough HP to go fast up mountains when towing 6000 lb of streamlined boat. For me, that performance was fine then, and would be fine now, but many people would be disappointed, I think.

Stellantis products? Ugh, no thanks.

I agree here too, despite having had several. I had a Citroen SM (from decades before Stellantis) , which combined the shockingly awful electrics of a French car with the oil-burning (and occasional fires) of an Italian engine. Sure was nicely streamlined, though, and actually great fun to drive. I had an Alfa that was faultlessly reliable (mechanical fuel injection!), but don't think that the modern ones are. But the whole idea of a bunch of unrelated car brands grouped together does not appeal to me... especially since part of the idea is to find all the cheapest stuff from across brands to put into expensive vehicles.

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[ZeusDriver]

There are also stories of people who had previous gen PHEVs where they'd religiously plug in and stay on EV power, ICE component would not have to kick in, and that also caused issues due to lack of use.

That would only have happened with poorly-designed ones. My first generation Volt periodically started itself for that reason -- you'd get a message on the driver's screen "starting engine for maintenance"). I did less than one oil change per year, and never replaced the air filter, because it never got dirty. I never paid for any maintenance, other than the oil changes (and some tires... and a 12 v battery after 6 or 7 years).

 

[whynotdairy]

I would buy an F150 EREV in a heartbeat

 

[John Becker]

Over, maybe, a 10 year period, I've moved from hell no on BEV to hell no on ICE. That said, I'm a believer in having the right tool for the job. If I were towing a heavy camper across country, I'd get a diesel.
People routinely ask me what the range is on my Lightning. I tell them "all day long." Range is a consideration only on road trips.

 

[electricpig]

Still would have gone Lightning. In a Lightning because I wanted to get away from gas. Second, Dodge has a poor rep for reliability, and are generally greatly over priced. Had to drive a ICE RAM when my truck was in a body shop. OMG did that thing suck!!!! One of the worst I've ever driven.

 

[Henry Ford]

In exchange for my frunk I have to do engine maintenance and stop at gas stations between tows to the dealership? If they pay me $2k/month and unlimited Ubers I'd consider it.

 

[ZheWiz]

No. Worst of both. Most likely to catch fire, oil changes, transmission, transmission oil changes, coolant, radiator, filling with gas in below zero weather. All the yuck stuff from ICE carries over.

No thank you. Gas sucks.

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