Every electric truck spec sheet quotes a range figure, and every one of those figures is for a truck with nothing behind it. The moment you drop a trailer on the ball, the number on the window sticker stops describing your life.

That is not a knock on electric trucks specifically. It happens to gas trucks too. The difference is what it costs you when it happens, and that is where a range extended truck is genuinely a different animal. Here is the straight version for somebody who actually tows in Manitoba, plus what we can and cannot promise yet. Our new Ram 1500 inventory is online if you want to see what is here while you read.

Key Takeaways

• Ram has not published a towing range figure for this truck, and we are not going to make one up. The targeted range figure of up to 690 miles (1,110 km) is an unloaded number. Treat any towing range you see quoted online as a guess unless it names its source.
• Towing cuts range hard on every powertrain. Pulling a trailer roughly doubles the energy needed to move down the road, because you are pushing far more air and far more weight. That is physics, not a brand problem.
• The difference is what happens next. On a battery electric truck, half the range means half the distance between chargers, and out here that is the whole problem. On the range extended truck the onboard generator simply runs more, and you refuel at any gas station in any town.
• The capability numbers are strong on paper. Ram lists a targeted maximum towing figure of 14,000 lb (6,350 kg) and targeted maximum payload of 2,600 lb (1,179 kg), both above every gas Ram 1500 rating. Ram labels them targeted, not final.
• The all electric Ram 1500 REV was cancelled on 12 September 2025 and the REV name moved to the range extended truck. Anything written before that about a battery only REV towing is describing a truck that does not exist.

Why Towing Wrecks Range on Anything

It is worth understanding the mechanism, because it tells you which trailers hurt and which ones do not.

Most of the energy a truck spends at highway speed goes into pushing air out of the way, and that cost climbs steeply with speed. A trailer adds frontal area and turbulence, so a tall enclosed trailer or a travel trailer punishes you far more than a low flat deck of the same weight. Weight matters too, mostly on hills and on every acceleration back up to speed, but on flat prairie highway running the shape of what you are pulling matters more than people expect.

Add a headwind, which is not exactly rare between Portage and Brandon, and the effect compounds. Add winter, where cold air is denser, the battery is less willing and the cab needs heat, and you stack a third penalty on top.

This is why a gas truck's fuel economy falls off a cliff when you hook up, and it is the same physics on an electric one. Nobody escapes it. Our post on towing in winter in Manitoba covers the practical side of that, and Ram 1500 towing capacity covers the ratings themselves.

What the Range Extender Actually Changes

Here is the part that matters, and it is not about the range number at all. It is about what a low battery costs you.

The truck drives on electricity all the time. There is a 92 kWh battery, and a 3.6 litre Pentastar V6 acts as a generator to recharge it while you drive or anywhere a charging station is not available. The engine never drives the wheels, it makes electricity.

So picture the same trailer behind two different electric trucks on Highway 1. Both use roughly twice the energy they would use empty. On a battery only truck, that means your 500 km of confidence just became 250 km, and you now need a fast charger inside that radius, in winter, with a trailer you cannot easily unhook in a charging stall. That scenario is exactly why we have never recommended a battery electric truck to somebody who tows out here.

On the range extended truck, the same doubled energy demand means the generator runs more of the time and burns more fuel. That is a real cost and we are not pretending it is free. But it is a cost you settle at any fuel pump in any town in Manitoba, in five minutes, with a trailer attached. The failure mode changes from "I might be stranded" to "I am spending more on fuel", and those are not remotely the same problem.

That is the honest case for this truck as a tow vehicle, and it does not depend on a single unpublished range figure.

What We Cannot Tell You Yet

This is the section most articles skip, so here it is plainly.

We cannot tell you the towing range. Ram has not published one. Any specific figure you find is somebody's estimate, and estimates about a truck this new, in a climate like ours, are worth very little.

We cannot tell you the real world fuel burn when the generator is carrying a trailer. It depends on the trailer, the speed, the wind and the temperature, and no independent Manitoba testing exists yet.

We cannot quote you a Canadian battery warranty term, because none is published that we can verify. If battery coverage is central to your decision, wait until Ram Canada puts a number in writing.

We cannot tell you how it behaves at minus 35 with a stock trailer, because nobody has run one here through a winter yet. Our post on cold weather range covers what we do know about the cold side.

What we can promise is that when real trucks land here and we start seeing them come through the shop, we will tell you what we actually observe rather than repeat the brochure. That is worth more to you in eighteen months than a confident guess today.

Worth flagging: our older post on electric truck towing range in winter was written before the battery electric REV was cancelled, so read it as background on the cold weather physics rather than as current product information.

Practical Advice If You Tow

Whatever powertrain you land on, these hold.

Know your real trailer weight. Not the brochure weight, the loaded weight on a scale. Almost everybody underestimates, and tongue weight comes out of payload, which is the rating that limits most setups long before the tow rating does.

Match the truck to the trailer shape, not just the weight. A tall enclosed trailer at 6,000 lb will cost you more range and more fuel than a low flat deck at 8,000 lb. Tell us what the trailer looks like, not only what it weighs.

Do not buy on a maximum rating. The 14,000 lb targeted figure, like every maximum, belongs to a specific configuration. Build the truck you actually want and read that truck's rating.

Get the brake controller sorted properly. It is the single most common towing complaint we see, and it is usually a setup issue rather than a fault. Our guide to trailer brake controller troubleshooting walks through it, and our service department can set it up with you.

If you want the broader powertrain picture first, our Ram Ramcharger overview is the place to start.

FAQs

What is the Ramcharger towing range?

Ram has not published a towing range figure, so we will not quote one. The targeted total driving range of up to 690 miles (1,110 km) is an unloaded number. Expect towing to cut range substantially, as it does on every powertrain, and expect the onboard generator to run more often when you are pulling a trailer.

How much can the Ramcharger tow?

Ram lists a targeted maximum towing figure of 14,000 lb (6,350 kg) with targeted maximum payload of 2,600 lb (1,179 kg). Both are above every gas Ram 1500 rating, and both are labelled as targeted rather than final, so confirm the number on the configuration you are actually ordering.

Do you have to stop and charge when towing?

No. The onboard generator, powered by a 3.6 litre Pentastar V6, recharges the battery while you drive, so you refuel at a normal gas station rather than searching for a fast charger with a trailer attached. That is the main practical difference from a battery electric truck when towing.

Is it better than a gas Ram 1500 for towing?

On the published ratings it tows and carries more. In practice the gas truck is proven, available now and has a service history behind it, while the range extended truck is new and its towing behaviour in Manitoba conditions has not been demonstrated yet. If you tow heavy every week today, that maturity is worth something real.

Does towing hurt an electric truck more than a gas one?

The energy penalty is similar in percentage terms. The consequence is what differs. On a battery electric truck, losing half your range means half the distance to the next charger, which is the problem out here. On a range extended truck it means more fuel through the generator, which you top up anywhere.

The Bottom Line

The useful question is not what the Ramcharger's towing range is, because nobody can answer that honestly yet. The useful question is what a low battery costs you when you are 200 km from home with a trailer on, and the range extended answer to that is a five minute fuel stop instead of a search for a charger. That is the reason this truck is worth a serious look as a tow vehicle when the battery only version never was.

The open questions are still open. No published towing range, no verified Canadian battery coverage, no Manitoba winter behind it. We would rather tell you that than sell you certainty we do not have.

Bring us your trailer, or at least its real weight and its shape, and we will talk through whether this truck or a gas Ram 1500 is the better fit for what you actually pull. Start with the new Ram 1500 inventory, ask how the Eh+ value stack applies, get a number on your current truck with an instant cash offer, and our finance application is there when you are ready.

Tyler Dunn, Dunn Ram Trucks, Portage la Prairie