Last fall, Ram announced plans for “four electrified pickup trucks over the next two years” as part of a North American offensive that would include the 1500 REV as well as a “new hydrogen solution to come.” We’re starting to learn more about the latter and it’s not exactly what we were expecting. Quite the opposite as Welt am Sonntag recently sat down with Jean-Michel Billig, who is Stellantis’ Chief Technology Officer for hydrogen fuel cell development. WardsAuto says he revealed the hydrogen-powered truck will be based on the Ram 5500.
Little is known about the model at this
point, but the current 5500 is sold in a chassis cab configuration with regular
and crew cab variants. The truck is aimed at fleets and offers a 6.4-liter HEMI
V8 as well as a 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel. The company will reportedly
build the model in Mexico, but the report also mentions “one for the European
market that already has begun low-volume production in Poland.” That sounds a
little odd, but even the 1500 RHO will be available on the other side of the
Atlantic.
Getting back to America, the Ram 5500 FCEV
would be one of the few fuel cell vehicles on the market. The Toyota Mirai is
probably the best-known example, but Hyundai also offers the Nexo. Both of
those models have been limited to California as America’s hydrogen refueling
infrastructure is virtually non-existent. It remains to be seen if Ram will
also focus on the Golden State, but it looks like the current model is no
longer available as a disclaimer on the configurator states “2024 Ram Chassis
Cab 4500 and 5500 vehicles with Aisin transmissions will no longer be available
for registration in the state of California.”
