20 plug-in hybrid Ram trucks to be deployed by month's end

As scheduled, Chrysler says that it will deploy 20 plug-in hybrid Ram trucks by month's end, with ten headed to Clark County, Nevada and ten shipping out to Yuma, Arizona.

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: Autoblog Green