RAM ELECTRIC PICKUP JOINS CROWDED FIELD NEXT YEAR

When a futuristic-looking electric Ram pickup truck goes on sale next year, it will hardly be the first in line.

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By then, at least seven EV competitors are scheduled to be on sale, all of them vying for a share of the huge full-size truck market that now includes the three top-selling gasoline and diesel powered vehicles in the United States.

Four models - Ford's F-150 Lightning, Rivian's R1T, Lordstown Motors' Endurance and the GMC Hummer EV Pickup - already are on the road. And this year or next, three others - the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and Tesla's Cybertruck — are scheduled to roll out.

Yet executives at Ram, which is Stellantis' truck and commercial vehicle brand, say it doesn't bother them to be following rather than leading their competitors.

"It's actually an advantage for us," Mike Koval Jr., CEO of the Ram brand, said in an interview. "Because we have full knowledge of what the other guys have announced.

Company executives unveiled a concept version of the Ram 1500 Revolution battery-powered truck at the CES gadget show in Las Vegas. The production truck isn't likely to be as edgy as the one shown on stage, which looks like a halfway point between Tesla's angular Cybertruck and a conventional gas pickup. But the Ram EV, Koval said, will surpass competitors in the areas that customers value the most: payload, towing, range and technology.