If you are selling high-tech homes, why not have a high-tech vehicle too? That’s the thinking at RAM Trucks Commercial division, which brought its new $31,695 RAM 1500 pickup to CEDIA Expo 2018, complete with integrated touchscreen for multiple functions.
Using RAM’s Uconnect technology, the driver can control 34 different menu options, including satellite radio, GPS and phone.
It also offers access email and directly to the Internet via the integrated 8.4-inch dashboard touchpanel. For integrators bound to their cellphones, the truck literally can act as an office on wheels.
The Uconnect technology also has a mobile app that lets an integrator control the vehicle from anywhere, receive monthly health reports about the truck, find the vehicle, send SOS emergency calls, remotely start the truck and more.
The truck can be turned into a Wi-Fi Hotspot using 4G LTE Wi-Fi for faster connections. The entire system is also controllable via voice commands.
Other high-tech amenities include backup camera, trailer brake control, ParkSense sensors both front and rear that detect anything within 47 inches of the bumpers, rain brake support that pulse the brake calipers during braking if the windshield wipers are on, and hill start assist that keeps the vehicle stationary for two seconds after starting if the truck is parked on an incline.
From the payload side, the truck accommodates full sheets of plywood laid flat and has a cargo management system for storing (and locking) ladders and other tools.
The cargo bed is also illuminated with built-in LEDs and has adjustable tie-down cleats for securing racks, TVs, and other components to the jobsite.
could not actually start the vehicle or keep
the battery connected on the showfloor so
integrators could see the touchpanel in action.
The truck’s Active-Level Four-Corner Air Suspension System automatically adjusts the height of the bed based on the weight of the payload, and via a manual switch bank inside the cab, a technician or project manager can adjust the suspension for towing/hauling, electronic brake control and Electronic Stability Control.
The truck can tow up to 5,000 pounds and with a special Class IV hitch, it can tow up to 10,620 pounds.
The truck comes with either a 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 engine with 420 pounds per foot of torque or a 5.7L HEMI V8 engine. Both are eight-speed automatic transmissions.
In its CEDIA Expo booth, RAM, which is a division of Fiat Chrysler, also showed both its RAM Promaster Cargo Van and RAM Promaster City Van/Passenger Wagon.
According to the 2018 CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis, RAM Commercial trucks and vans are used by 7 percent of CE Pro 100 integration companies.
