Stellantis is celebrating a couple huge milestones. About six months ago, the multinational automaker’s Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP for short) in suburban Detroit, had its 40th birthday. Aside from that, the 2 millionth Ram 1500 truck recently rolled off this production facility’s assembly line, a huge manufacturing milestone no matter how you slice it.
Big Trucks = Big Business
The particular pickup that earned this title is an off-road-ready 2025 Ram 1500 RHO dressed in fetching Flame Red paint. The rough-and-tumble Warlock and Rebel variants of this tough truck are also screwed together at this facility.
Assembly of the Ram 1500 at SHAP commenced back in 2018. Before that, the facility built passenger cars, most recently the generally competent but ultimately ill-fated Chrysler 200 sedan. Underscoring its commitment to this facility – and the money-making Ram 1500 – Stellantis invested $235 million in SHAP last year to build multi-energy variants of this popular pickup. This includes a range-extended version, the Ramcharger, and the all-electric Ram 1500 REV, though it sounds like the latter of these two vehicles has been canceled.
A Lot To Be Proud Of, Much Work Ahead
“We have a lot to look forward to as we start building the Ram 1500 with a range of powertrain options, providing freedom of choice for our customers,” said plant manager Chuck Padden in a media release shared by the automaker. “Not that long ago, SHAP’s future was in doubt, so this is a remarkable accomplishment, and I am so proud of this workforce for their resilience and dedication.”
The automotive industry is a tough one. Designing, engineering, testing, manufacturing, selling, and servicing modern vehicles is HARD, and this can be even more difficult with today’s complicated pickup trucks. “The Sterling Heights Assembly Plant is a core facility in our manufacturing footprint, tasked with the difficult responsibility of assembling the Ram 1500, a nameplate with 10 trim levels and thousands of configurations,” explained the truck brand’s CEO, Tim Kuniskis, in a media release. “Handing keys to nearly 2 million Ram 1500 customers takes a strong team as we start an aggressive product cadence for Ram brand,” the animated and engaging automotive executive added.
The upcoming – and super intriguing – Ramcharger features a 130-kilowatt-hour battery pack for generous all-electric range, but there’s also a combustion engine, specifically a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 that gives this electrified truck nearly 700 miles of range. As for performance, expect around 663 horsepower, a 0-to-60 time of roughly 4.4 seconds, and a maximum towing capacity of 14,000 pounds.
In comparison, the Ram 1500 REV was supposed to be purely electric. This battery-powered pickup was expected to have around 350 miles of range. Horsepower is estimated at up to 654 while torque should clock in at around 620 pound-feet, enough to get this huge and heavy vehicle from a standstill to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds. As with the Ramcharger, this truck’s towing capacity should top out at a staggering 14,000 pounds if, of course, it ever gets built.
Read the full article here