While providing more electric options for ordinary consumers is important, the “mass market” is still only a fraction of the vehicles on the road. Commercial vehicles, including trucks and truckare sold in large numbers, many of which spend much of their time around town, delivering goods and equipment to local homes and businesses. These are the least efficient routes you can take for an internal combustion vehicle, which is bad for both your bottom line and the environment. So the switch to electric makes perfect sense, but so far the only electric cars commercial truck To be Ford E-Transit. Yes, it is now being joined by Ram ProMaster Electric Truck. This is easily the best driving version and has specs that could make it an attractive alternative to the Ford cars. “Inviting” is not the same as “good,” however, because MC The price of electric cars is too high now.
The Ram ProMaster EV isn’t actually the first version of this truck to get electrified. You see, the ProMaster is just a badge-engineered version of the Commercial Vehicles available throughout the Stellantis empire. In fact, back to 2020, Peugeot car was the first to reveal an electric version of the car it calls the Boxer (E-Boxer), while Fiat cars The E-Ducato debuted a few years later. But they’re not exactly the same. Of the two trucks, the ProMaster EV mirrors the Peugeot, with a more powerful engine under the upturned nose, driving the front wheels. It makes 268 horsepower and 302 pound-feet of torque. That’s just 8 horsepower less than the ProMaster, which uses a Pentastar V6 and gains 50 pound-feet of torque. It’s also on par with the Ford, which makes 266 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, though the Ford sends power to the rear wheels instead of the front. Something to consider for those in the Snow Belt.
The ProMaster’s engine has a power output of 110 kilowatt-hours. battery capacity, the same as the Peugeot. It’s the only battery option, and Ram is aiming for a maximum city range of 174 miles, though it says it expects a little more than 160 miles with the van loaded to half its capacity. Range estimates are also based on US test cycles (Peugeot and Fiat quote an extremely optimistic WLTP test method, so there’s no exact comparison). More importantly, the ProMaster EV tops Ford’s 89 kWh battery pack and its estimated maximum range of 159 miles for the low-roof van.
The maximum fast charging rate is 150 kilowatts, but it seems likely that businesses will be recharging more in the evening. (If they regularly need more than the ProMaster EV’s stated range in a day, an EV probably isn’t the best choice at this point.) So it’s capable of 11 kW Level 2 AC charging, which is about what you’d expect from a typical “home.” charger.
There will be two versions of the ProMaster EV. The delivery van, which will be the first, is a high-roof van, differentiated primarily by the addition of a roll-up rear cargo door and a sliding door behind the front passenger doors. These are added to make it easier to get in and out of the cargo area without needing a gap to open the doors. The other regular cargo van version, which will arrive later next year, is also a high-roof van, but with more conventional split rear doors and a conventional sliding truck door behind the passenger doors. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two is payload capacity: 2,030 pounds for the delivery van and 3,020 pounds for the cargo van. By comparison, the cargo E-Transit has a payload capacity of 2,799 to 3,249 pounds, depending on wheelbase and roof height, and the chassis-cab and open-top models are rated for more (though that also applies to any custom boxes installed). Ram claims up to 524 cubic feet of space, though it doesn’t specify whether that’s the delivery or cargo model, compared to 536 cubic feet for Ford’s high-roof E-Transit. It’s also worth noting that the ProMaster has the same cargo capacity as the gas-powered version because the battery pack is under the floor.
But enough of that, it’s time to talk about how the ProMaster EV drives. We haven’t actually had a chance to drive the E-Transit, so we can’t compare them, but we did get to drive both the gas and electric ProMasters back-to-back. The EV is definitely the way to go if you can factor in range and charging needs. While the Pentastar and nine-speed automatic are smooth, you can’t beat the single-speed electric motor. The more immediate response from the throttle makes the truck feel much quicker and more manageable. It’s also more pleasant to climb hills without the V6’s aggressive rumble. This particular example is electronically limited to 70 mph, but it’s happy to do more than that, a Ram representative confirmed. Ram also notes that there’s a one-pedal driving mode for the EV, but it wasn’t enabled on our test vehicle.
The rest of the experience (we only had access to the delivery model) is largely identical to the internal combustion ProMaster, which means it feels very much like a commercial van. It’s just a big metal box, and it’s a bit rattley and rattley. The short nose and seating almost directly over the front wheels are only approximated by buses, especially with the relatively horizontal steering wheel. Forward visibility is phenomenal with the large windshield. There’s also plenty of room in almost every direction, and it’s fairly easy to find a comfortable seating position. It feels very different from most passenger vehicles, which is refreshing and exciting for those less familiar with commercial vehicles, and probably not so exciting for delivery drivers.
Infotainment is solid, with a 7-inch instrument cluster display and a 10.1-inch center display. And it can be had with a heated steering wheel, heated windshield, adaptive cruise control with lane-keeping function, blind-spot warning, and wireless phone charging. Blind-spot warning seems like a must for such a big car without a rear window, as is, surprisingly, a heated windshield. Trying to de-fog that big windshield with the HVAC system wouldn’t work, so having a heater built in would be a benefit to range.
So far, so good for the ProMaster EV, but as mentioned before, price is the sticking point. While pricing for the cargo version hasn’t been announced yet, the delivery model starts at $79,990. The E-Transit cargo van starts at around $52,000, and the chassis-cab and sedan start at a lower price. Now, hypothetically, there’s a good chance the delivery configuration will include any custom accessories that a customer might want to add to the chassis-cab or sedan, but that’s still a steep price for a commercial van.
So the ProMaster EV is definitely the best ProMaster to drive. And the reduced fuel and maintenance costs may be appealing to businesses, not to mention the environmental benefits. But the price creates a barrier that could slow adoption. We expect the goods model The price is close to Ford’s as more and more electric trucks become available, benefiting everyone.
