Truck Gas Mileage

Pickup truck gas mileage is ripe for improvement. With today’s most fuel efficient small pickup trucks only reaching the mid-twenty mile per gallon (MPG) range on the highway, it’s clear that there’s much work to be done. At one point in time, not all that long ago, America had a domestically produced 45 MPG pickup truck. Decades later, the best truck gas mileage we can do is roughly half that amount. It’s sad but true.

One basic change could be made to improve our trucks gas mileage results: replace the gasoline engines with diesels. But as of this writing, not one manufacturer has committed to selling a small pickup truck with a diesel here in the United States. The problem, in many ways, is related to our country’s lack of a coherent energy policy that would put diesel fuel on the same footing as gasoline. Per gallon pricing is the barrier … and the opportunity.

It’s only possible to improve gas mileage to a certain point with conventional gasoline engines. Diesel truck mileage trumps the gassers handily, when comparing the equivalent models from Ford, Chevy, and Dodge (although the numbers are never published for the larger trucks).

While GM’s hybrid pickup trucks hold promise, reaching higher mileage will require a significant investment in batteries. Until battery availability increases and battery prices decrease, it may be fairly difficult to justify the acquisition costs.

Truck Gas Mileage – Small Pickup 2WD

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Truck Gas Mileage – Small Pickup 4WD

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Truck Gas Mileage – Standard Pickup 2WD

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Truck Gas Mileage – Standard Pickup 4WD