Photos of The 2019 Ram 1500 eTorque

Enter eTorque: Any 2019 Ram 1500—the all-new one, not the Ram Classic that is just a continuation of the previous generation—can be equipped with a motor/generator attached to its engine's crankshaft via a belt that is capable of adding torque, cranking the engine in a stop/start event, or making electricity with regenerative braking.

Ram claims the hybrid system adds just 90 pounds of mass in the V-8 applications and 105 pounds with the V-6. As we sort of expected, the Hemi with eTorque provides little if any assistance in the zero-to-60-mph department.

We've tested three 2019 Hemi Rams, and the 6102-pound Limited eTorque was a tenth of a second slower to 60 mph and through the quarter-mile sprint—with times of 6.2 and 14.8 seconds—than the 5541-pound Laramie we'd previously tested without the hybrid setup. (A non-eTorque Ram 1500 Rebel was slower still.) The comparably featherweight Quad Cab V-6 accelerates to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds and covers a standing quarter-mile in 15.6 seconds.

The Ram's hybrid system is mostly undetectable on a number of fronts. In addition to not encroaching on the cabin, there isn't a single "eTorque" badge anywhere.

With such a relatively small motor, the eTorque system mostly operates silently in the background, like a clandestine operative on a quest to save fuel. Every 0.005 second the system evaluates the current demands and decides whether to add a little torque or charge the battery.

Only when you go looking for the handoff between regenerative braking and friction braking in the very top of the brake-pedal travel does the modulation feel different than normal.

Unlike regular stop/start systems, eTorque engines have cold-blowing air-conditioning systems when the crank isn't turning, even though it has a conventional belt-driven A/C compressor. Restarting during a stop/start event is nearly undetectable.

As opposed to waiting for the engine to crank, the truck starts to roll off the line under electric power, and restarts are hardly even felt in the cabin.

Just a single 90-second stop/start event in the Hemi saves 1.7 ounces of gasoline. If you hit 10 stoplights every day for a year, that's nearly 50 gallons. According to EPA estimates, whether rear- or all-wheel-drive, the Hemi eTorque gets 19 mpg combined, a 2-mpg bump over V-8s without eTorque. All V-6 Ram 1500s get a 21-mpg combined estimate.

The handling, while still truckish, doesn't scream two-and-a-half tons and neither does the ride. Ram's coil-spring rear suspension (exclusive among body-on-frame pickups) all but eliminates head toss.

Both the moderately optioned $44,455 Big Horn and fully stacked Limited (with the optional air springs) are remarkably quiet when going down the road; the Big Horn generated only 67 decibels on our sound meter while traveling 70 mph. That's the exact same reading as a 2019 Mercedes-Benz E450 4matic sedan.

Any would-be Mr. Plow will be a little disappointed that Ram doesn’t recommend attaching plows to the 1500’s frame. It isn’t a question of overloading the electrical system; eTorque is designed to handle the load of many 12-volt accessories.

Instead, it has to do with the Ram 1500's frame-rail design. To combat offset head-on crashes, the frame rails at the front of the truck are splayed out 23 degrees, and the varying-gauge steel—designed to accordion in a crash—isn't meant to support the cantilevered load of a snow plow out front. Ram’s recommendation: Get a three-quarter- or one-ton truck.

Towing and payload figures vary based on equipment. There are three axle ratios, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive (with a two-speed transfer case), quad and the larger crew cab, and two bed lengths for the crew cab.

Each one of those combinations has its own tow ratings, but the model with the highest tow capacity is a rear-drive quad cab with a 3.92:1 axle, the Hemi, and eTorque. It is rated for a whopping 12,750 pounds. For comparison sake, a crew-cab, long-box, 4x4, Hemi eTorque with the 3.92 axle, which will be a popular configuration, is rated to tow 11,180 pounds.

The V-8 eTorque is on sale now, and the V-6 will arrive shortly. A quad-cab Tradesman starts at $33,390—add $2645 for the V-8 and eTorque. Like all modern trucks, Ram 1500s can get pretty luxurious and crest $50,000.

Ram configured option packages so buyers can get exactly what they want and aren’t forced to go to the top trim to get a specific feature. There are some limits, obviously, such as leather seats not being offered on the black-bumper Tradesman model, but eTorque is available across the board.

Truck folk should embrace it because it saves fuel without jeopardizing your street cred by going green.