The 2025 Ram 1500 REV Looks Normal. Here’s Why That’s Smart.

As we all know, expectation and reality can be vastly different things. It's too early to say whether the relatively normal-looking 2025 Ram 1500 REV's sales will ultimately be affected by the departure from its wild conceptual form, but it's still disappointing we won't get the cool, B-pillarless doors or the third-row jump seats. But after checking out the new Ram REV in person recently at the 2023 New York International Auto Show, forgoing some of the fanciest features makes sense. This decision is clearly Ram gambling on the idea that a normal electric pickup is a safer bet with current buyer trends than an unconventional one.

As the last member of the Detroit Three to announce an all-electric pickup, Ram grabbed headlines with its show-stopping Revolution Concept, whose features included the aforementioned cool doors and seats, as well as an extending bed and a pass-through that ran from the grille all the way to the tailgate. You could see the thinking there: It was as though Ram was making up for being late to the party by showing off something truly awesome.

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The production version we'll wind up getting keeps the concept's front fascia and rear tailgate designs, but everything else is pretty toned down. In short, it's recognizably a Ram 1500 that happens to be electric. This isn't a new or groundbreaking approach, but it's one that's proven to have worked. All you have to do is look at Ford.

When it launched, interest in the F-150 Lightning was so great Ford racked up 44,500 orders within 48 hours of books opening; the order bank closed in December 2021 with 200,000 reservations. (Orders are still closed as of this writing, but that likely has to do with supply chain issues, as well.) Conversely, the Chevy Avalanche-like Silverado EV, which has a more unconventional design and an admittedly cool midgate, only managed 140,000 reservations in its first four months, and Chevy's still taking reservations.

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As for the Ram REV? Reservations sold out a week after the production version reveal in February, and they only opened up again at the beginning of April. This would seem to indicate some pretty healthy public interest, even if Ram is keeping the exact numbers a secret for now. People vote with their wallets, after all.

It's worth keeping in mind that widespread EV adoption is still in its early stages. The easiest way to achieve that is by appealing to the majority of buyers. Tesla made sensational inroads bringing EVs to the luxury space; with F-150s, Silverados, and Rams are consistently thebestsellingvehicles in the U.S., it makes perfect sense to electrify those, too, as automakers hope to speed up adoption to create returns on their immense investments in EVs.

Ford went to great lengths to ensure the Lightning doesn't compromise the F-150 ethos much because that's what people like about it—sharing much with the conventional truck also helped them become only the second electric truck to market, behind the Rivian R1T. Ram's doing the same thing, and hoping to get its truck out the door by the end of next year. For its part, Ram also says many of the really cool items from the concept are planned for development with the next-generation electric Ram.

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So while we mourn the loss of what could have been, at least in the near-term, the normalized 1500 REV makes perfect sense from a "we actually want people to buy this truck" perspective. Of course, how the truck drives or performs remains to be seen. We'll see how Ram's gamble pays off in the coming months.