The folks over at Ram Commercial just announced updates to the ProMaster lineup of vans, which includes new safety tech and more available options. It’s all well and good, but Ford is bringing an electric Transit to market this year. Where’s the electric ProMaster?
It’s coming.
While details are scant, the news release detailing the changes for the 2022 ProMaster finishes its bullet points with a key factor.
“In response to customer demand, Ram Commercial will introduce a battery-electric ProMaster in 2023,” the release states.
The ProMaster is full of new tech that will likely also be included when the van goes electric. This includes the updated, and quite good, Uconnect 5 infotainment system. It allows for wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, different user profiles for different settings, and wireless over-the-air updates.
Safety features include hands-on driver assistance features, including lane centering and adaptive cruise control. A digital rearview mirror helps the driver see behind the van, even if it’s full of cargo (or doesn’t have rear glass in the doors).
Commercial van applications don’t often require a ton of miles. While an Amazon delivery van, for example, might operate 12 hours at a time or more, the van itself might only driving 50 miles or less in a particular region. That’s part of the reason why the E-Transit doesn’t have 300 miles of driving range.
We would assume that the Ram ProMaster electric will have a similar approach to range. A slightly smaller battery pack helps save money, and provide the most room for aftermarket upfits to meet the needs of the customer. We would expect the ProMaster electric to fall into the 150 mile range on the EPA test cycle.
Like the Transit, we also expect the electrified ProMaster to make its way to Europe.
But really that’s all we know — and we know that’s not much. Expect to hear more about the electric ProMaster next year.
