Dodge Forum tests out eTorque, Ram’s first hybrid system that makes for a much smoother drive.
Earlier this week, I was invited to travel to Lexington, Kentucky to drive the new 2019 Ram 1500 trucks with the new eTorque mild hybrid system. I also happen to be driving a 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel test truck right now, so to get the best feel for the hybrid and non-hybrid half-ton trucks, I decided to drive from Metro Detroit to Kentucky in the Hemi-powered Rebel. This allowed me to spend about 375 miles in the non-hybrid truck before and after driving the new hybrid packages for about a hundred miles, giving me a chance to experience the real world differences between the new Ram with and without the high tech eTorque system.
Fuel Economy Ratings
The most significant and most marketable advantage of any hybrid system is improved fuel economy, and that is true of the 2019 Ram 1500 with the eTorque system. In four-wheel-drive form, the eTorque Hemi offers EPA ratings of 17 miles per gallon in the city, 22 miles per gallon on the highway, and 19 miles per gallon combined. Compare that to the EPA numbers for my non-hybrid Ram test truck of 15 city, 21 highway, and 17 combined and you have improvements of two miles per gallon in the city and in the combined figure, while the highway number goes up by one mile per gallon.
So, according to the government, the eTorque leads to a slight improvement in every fuel economy metric based on their test format, but it seems to be more and more common that the EPA numbers fall well short of real world figures. For example, the EPA insists that the Hellcat Challenger with the automatic transmission only gets 22 miles per gallon on the highway, but in reality, cruising on the highway at 70 to 75 miles per hour in my supercharged Dodge commonly leads to numbers closer to 25 miles per gallon.
As it turns out in testing the new hybrid Ram, the EPA numbers are a bit off for the Hemi-powered pickups as well.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
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