Are you sure about that seven-seat SUV or people-mover? Ram 1500 Revolution is the ultimate three-row family hauler!

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Could a big electric truck be better than a 7-seat SUV for your family?
Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
27 Jan 2023
2 min read

Ram has used the CES show in Las Vegas to unveil what it thinks could be the next step in the jumbo-truck space, with the Revolution 1500 debuting a three-row seating arrangement with room for seven people.

Presenting as a far tougher alternative to three-row, seven-seat SUVs and people-movers, the Ram 1500 Revolution features a cabin that's been lengthened by four inches, making room for two extra seats, the base of which fold out from the rear of the truck.

It's a window into what to expect from the next-generation of US trucks – like the Ram 1500, the Toyota Tundra, the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado – with seven-seat, family-friendly pickups seemingly on the horizon.

But that's not all the Revolution offers. Officially a concept at this point –  described by the company's chief designer as "the totality of so many ideas" - the seven-seat 1500 is also a pure-electric truck.

Range and outputs are yet to be detailed, but we do know the Revolution features an 800-volt EV architecture that allows for 350kW DC fast charging. Plug into one of these lightning-quick chargers and you should see up to 161km of range added in just 10 minutes.

It rides on the STLA platform, which has seen the wheelbase grow by four inches to accommodate the 'large battery'. It's this extra space that the designers have put to work for the third row.

"We really wanted to make sure that cabin space was as optimized as it possibly could," Ram's chief designer, Ryan Nagode, told Automotive News

The Revolution 1500 rides on the STLA platform, which has seen the wheelbase stretched  by four inches.
The Revolution 1500 rides on the STLA platform, which has seen the wheelbase stretched by four inches.

"When you move some of that stuff forward, we knew we wanted to maintain a decent-size bed. Those inches that you were gaining were going right into the cabin, and the idea was just to flex this space." 

While the "jump seat" style third row doesn't look as comfortable as the truck's regular seats, they're not plastic launch chairs either. Instead, the fold-down pews have been wrapped partly in a synthetic wetsuit-style material, and partly in a mesh derived from recycled plastic bottle that's reminiscent of an office chair.

This or a seven-seat SUV? You tell us.

Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
Andrew Chesterton should probably hate cars. From his hail-damaged Camira that looked like it had spent a hard life parked at the end of Tiger Woods' personal driving range, to the Nissan Pulsar Reebok that shook like it was possessed by a particularly mean-spirited demon every time he dared push past 40km/h, his personal car history isn't exactly littered with gold. But that seemingly endless procession of rust-savaged hate machines taught him something even more important; that cars are more than a collection of nuts, bolts and petrol. They're your ticket to freedom, a way to unlock incredible experiences, rolling invitations to incredible adventures. They have soul. And so, somehow, the car bug still bit. And it bit hard. When "Chesto" started his journalism career with News Ltd's Sunday and Daily Telegraph newspapers, he covered just about everything, from business to real estate, courts to crime, before settling into state political reporting at NSW Parliament House. But the automotive world's siren song soon sounded again, and he begged anyone who would listen for the opportunity to write about cars. Eventually they listened, and his career since has seen him filing car news, reviews and features for TopGear, Wheels, Motor and, of course, CarsGuide, as well as many, many others. More than a decade later, and the car bug is yet to relinquish its toothy grip. And if you ask Chesto, he thinks it never will.
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