While most minivans are designed with families in mind, the RAM Cargo Van Tradesman, or CV for short, is strictly business. It's essentially a plain-Jane Dodge Grand Caravan with a beefier suspension and uncluttered cargo area that's ready to be upfitted to your needs. The CV is just as drivable as any other minivan and priced well below full-size vans, which makes it an ideal catch-all vehicle for small businesses.
What's New For 2015
The RAM CV Tradesman is unchanged for 2015.
Choosing Your RAM Cargo Van Tradesman
The CV shares its drivetrain with other Chrysler minivans, which means it gets a 3.6-liter V6 that makes 283 horsepower and a six-speed automatic transmission with a fuel-saving economy mode. The CV receives a heavy-duty suspension that allows it to carry 1,800 pounds of cargo and tow up to 3,600 pounds, an impressive amount for a front-drive vehicle. The CV can swallow up to 155 cubic-feet of stuff, the most of any non-full-size van. With a 20-gallon gas tank and a 26 mpg highway rating, the CV makes for a fine long-distance runner.
From the driver seat, the CV feels very much like a civilian minivan with cloth upholstery, power front windows and locks, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, a CD player and heated side mirrors. The only obvious clue that you're riding in a cargo van is the rubber flooring. The sliding side doors, rear quarters and liftgate are filled in with body-color panels, but glass windows are available all around, and the liftgate glass can get a defogger and wiper/washer. A cargo divider and a flat aluminum load floor with anti-skid strips are also available.
The CV offers a long list of individual convenience options, including power rear windows, a power driver seat, a display audio system with digital music storage, satellite radio, navigation, a rearview camera, Bluetooth phone and audio, rear climate control and an onboard WiFi router.
Like all minivans, the CV was designed to have windows, so the standard solid panels look like someone made them at home. Unless security is a real issue, we would spring for glass all around. Note that if you really just want a bare-bones hauler, some of the CV's standard features can be deleted for credit.