$48 million question: Is the Dodge Ram hybrid pickup worth plugging in?
Is this really the right box for plug-in hybrid technology?
Can adding a plug to the dual mode hybrid drive charge sluggish sales?
Several years ago Chrysler and GM co-developed the dual mode hybrid powertrain, a powertrain particularly designed for large SUVs and pickup trucks. Today, Chrysler doesn’t sell any dual mode hybrid vehicles while GM’s dual mode hybrid sales are just north of non-existent.
However, just as Chrysler was dumping plans for a Dodge Ram hybrid pickup based off the dual mode hybrid drive, the government offered $48 million to Chrysler to develop a number of Ram hybrid plug-in pickup trucks for testing.
But was this plug-in hybrid investment doomed before it even began?
Obviously, large SUVs and pickup trucks are an incredibly important segment for Chrysler. In fact, it was gas-guzzler sales that enabled Chrysler to shed its government loans according to TheMichiganView. Unfortunately, while light duty trucks might be profitable, they are also terribly fuel inefficient. Thus, adding hybrid and plug-in hybrid technologies to this segment makes great sense, at least in theory.
In reality, however, large hybrid SUVs and pickup trucks just aren’t selling as the sticker shock on these vehicles is far too alarming for most consumers. Can adding a plug and even more batteries – as well as costs – possibly help change this MSRP panic? For now, Chrysler has no plans to sell either hybrid or plug-in hybrid pickup trucks, so who knows if we’ll ever know.
Still, doesn’t the pickup truck simply have to be re-imagined and redesigned if fuel economy is going to become a critically important metric? Minimally, would it not have been better to focus on a smaller pickup, for example, instead of one powered with a 5.7-liter Hemi V-8? Seriously, do most pickup truck buyers really need that kind of power, ever?
Thus, wouldn’t a smaller plug-in hybrid pickup truck, such as one built on a unibody frame or an entirely new frame, have been more deserving of investment? If Chrysler squashed plans to build a dual mode hybrid truck because of limited sale’s potential, isn’t that pretty much the end of this more expensive plug in story as well?
Besides, GM has been developing a dual mode plug-in hybrid drive for several years now. Therefore, why did the government have to give $50 million to Chrysler to do the same when the core of GM and Chrysler hybrid drives are basically identical? Why not try to break new ground instead?
Without question, hybrid and plug-in trucks are a worthy endeavor, but it seems the only chance for success in this space requires a new vision for the pickup truck space. But for now, it seems obvious that future won’t be based on 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engines.
I guess 20 years of low gas prices changed Americans’ attitudes about small trucks.
I remember in the mid 90’s, when this all started. It was when the Dodge Dakota came out with the first mid sized truck with a 4.3 liter engine. Within 5 years, small trucks were a thing of the past.
I think a couple years of high gas prices will change American attitudes once again though. Don’t be surprised if you see small trucks re-emerge at American dealerships.
Way back in the 90’s I owned an Isuzu P’up with a 4 cylinder diesel. Most of the time it got around 30-40 mpg. Had 145,000 on the truck when I got ride of it.
Mileage was great however is was not a barn burner if you know what I mean, LOL. If there was a small truck like that one or a new Nissan or Toyota of about the same size, I might just go buy one.
So why did they go away? I really don’t have a clue??? They were very useful vehicles.
Smurf – surely Toyota would sell a small truck here if they thought it would sell…
right?
Maza made some nice small trucks until a few years ago. We used to have a B2200.
It was a fine truck that got about 28mpg if I recall.
Looks like they stopped making them in 2003 or so. why?
Small Mazda trucks would not have the problem of cannalbalizing the larger trucks in it’s line-up because they did not have larger trucks.
so why did they go away?
they would have had the only small truck on this market..
Larry,
I wish I knew the answer to that one…..
It’s not just Toyota…. I was in Guadalajara, Mexico a few months ago and saw a really small “Ford” pickup (brand new). It was much smaller than a Ford Ranger. Why can’t Ford sell “that” truck in the US?
the obvious question here is that if Toyota already makes a small pickup that gets good mileage.. why is it not for sale here?
Don’t you think Toyota would seize on that advantage if it truly was an opportunity?
Why is Toyota offering the same CRAP pickups as GM and Ford?
answer please.
“Is the Tacoma “too big”?”
If the Tacoma is the smallest truck in your inventory, then YES. It is was too big…
The Tacoma was always a mid-sized truck. When Toyota stopped making the original “Toyota pickup” the Tacoma was the smallest truck left. Even the stripped down single-cab Tacoma is still too big to get more than 25 MPG.
All the other manufacturers did the same thing in the mid to late 90’s. They started making mid-sized trucks and stopped making small trucks. Then in the 2000’s they increased the size of these trucks even more, making them the equivalent of the full size trucks, and making full sized trucks ludicrous-sized.
I still see a lot of small pickup trucks on the road, but only when I travel outside the US.
Bring those small trucks back to the US I say!!!
re: “small trucks”.
don’t haul more than the rated load – bad karma.
Is the Tacoma “too big”?
It’s a LOT smaller than even the older (2000 era) Tundras but it’s closer in size to the T100s… that followed the initial Toyota Trucks (that I cannot remember the name of).
25mpg is “close” but the only way to get there is with a stripped down single cab 4 cylinder that has to be special ordered.
I don’t mind the 4-banger but 4-bangers ought to get 30mpg these days and do in man cars so I’m not understanding why not in the Tacoma or other small trucks.
Larry,
A truck does not need to be Tacoma sized or bigger and have 400 hp to be useful.
I had a small rice-burner truck back in the 80’s and 90’s and loved it. I hauled furniture when friends moved, hauled trailers all over the country and launched boats.
BOATS: you don’t need a big truck to haul or launch a boat. All you need is a trailer hitch and good shocks. Instead of spending a fortune on a giant trunk invest in some air shocks.
5TH WHEEL: less the one tenth of one percent of truck owners will ever own a 5th wheel. Design a truck for the other 99.99% of Americans.
My Japanese truck got 25-30 MPG with 80’s technology. Imagine what you can do with today’s technology? Add a hybrid and the sky is the limit.
We have to get out of the mindset that only a large truck will do.
I loved my small truck. If they start selling small trucks again, I’ll be first in line to buy one…..
very cool Tom – thanks!
wouldn’t it be KICK if hydraulics pushed out batteries?
I’m not wishing it but I’m pointing out that hitching one’s star to one technology is risky businesses. where “hitching-star” means having the govt favor one kind of technology over another instead of standing back and let innovation happen without interference.
Lucky for us the EPA is not locked in to only one technology.
of course what would would be an even bigger shocker is in Dodge leapfrogged ahead of GM and Toyota by not following the battery herd and instead going for hydraulics.
Just got finished watching a youtube video on series hydraulic hybrid trucks – they are coming. If it will work in a UPS delivery vehicle – why not our 1/2 and 3/4 ton pickup trucks.
In the video it talks about up to a 50% improvement in fuel economy at a far lower cost than with batteries.
Larry – It looks like you might get your wish yet for that 30-40 mpg truck. Won’t that be sweet !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hc1iAhX8EWg
small pickups used to be the sole province of Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda. The American manufacturer put their badges on imports.
The small pickup is still very popular in other countries but as Tom said… you are not going to haul a boat or a 5th wheel with a small pickup.
but some of us worse trade down from a Tundra to a Tacoma if the dang thing got better than 24mpg. A friend with an old Ford Ranger claims 30.
I want at least 30mpg to go to a Tacoma-sized truck and I think a bunch of other people would too.
I’d LOVE a 30mpg Tacoma. Where is it?
but if I were still in the daily home to work world – I’d have a 40mpg plain jane box and in a carpool … and let the truck at home anyhow.
I have a better suggestion….
Bring back smaller pickup trucks where battery technology IS feasible.
The success of crossovers is showing that Americans are ready for smaller trucks again.
I gotta believe that a small pickup that gets 40 MPG would be very appealing right now…..
” Our host also asked this question. “Seriously, do most pickup truck buyers really need that kind of power, ever?”.
The answer is: of course we do.
Three or four times per year when we pull our boats down to the marina to go fishing or take that 2 month vacation in our 10,000 lb. 5th wheel trailers, LOL.”
this is what the plug-in / smaller fuel efficient car advocacy fails to grasp.
That truck can sit in the driveway during work days while the owner drives the heck out of his econo-box.
Blaming the problems on trucks is wrongheaded unless one believes those trucks are the major drivers of daily miles.
We’ve been over this before
I live near DC. The twice-daily traffic on I-95 and the beltway is breathtaking in a bad way… but if you stand at an overpass and count vehicles – there are not that many Dodge Rams or equivalent.
There are far more SUVs and econoboxes, the vast majority of them NOT driven as carpools but solo.
THAT’s where your fuel consumption comes from IMHO.
The “kill the big trucks” group is pitchfork and torch politics.
Ah yes, it looks like a Dodge Ram 1500, Quad Cab, 1/2 ton pickup. Nice truck. What it needs to make it an outstanding truck however is a series hydraulic hybrid energy recovery system.
It seems to me that spending 48 million to just make a plug-in truck that very few people can afford to buy isn’t a very wise use of our tax dollars. IF OR WHEN the cost of batteries comes down; maybe. Until then, why not piggyback on the hydraulic hybrid program Chrysler is already working on for their mini-vans?
If what I read is true, a hydraulic hybrid option for a mini-van will cost about $700 per vehicle. For a 1/2 ton truck that might be what; twice that much?
I just don’t see battery technology ready yet for trucks. Unless of course someone knows something we don’t. Come to think of it, what was the name of that battery company in Texas that supposedly had some giant breakthrough dealing with ultra capacitors?
Our host also asked this question. “Seriously, do most pickup truck buyers really need that kind of power, ever?”.
The answer is: of course we do.
Three or four times per year when we pull our boats down to the marina to go fishing or take that 2 month vacation in our 10,000 lb. 5th wheel trailers, LOL.