These Are The Five Best Trucks For Gas Mileage In 2021
Even when fuel prices aren’t high, fuel efficiency is a desirable objective. But it’s not always easy to maintain efficiency when you are driving a larger truck. This is especially true when the truck is necessary for your business needs.
Fortunately, more fuel-efficient pickup truck choices are available. To help you make an educated selection of your next truck purchase, here are some of the best choices on the U.S. market today. The five listed trucks are all four-wheel-drive (4WD), the most popular American option.
Chevrolet Colorado
The gas-powered Colorado from Chevrolet begins at an MSRP of $25,200. The higher $38,740 starting price of the diesel-powered versions might give buyers pause if fuel economy is the main decision-making factor. The four-cylinder, 2.8 liter, automatic 6-speed diesel is a barely noticeable improvement at 19/28/22 mpg over the four-cylinder, 2.5 liter, automatic 6-speed regular gasoline’s 19/24/21 mpg.
Either choice, however, is still near the top picks in fuel efficiency. Incongruously, the Colorado ZR2 model lands near the bottom of most testings with 16/18/17 mpg.
Chevrolet Silverado
Chevy not only improved the look and significantly increased the towing capacity of the Silverado in 2021, but also the fuel efficiency. The best gasoline-powered version, the 2.7-liter turbo-4, achieves 19 mpg city, 22 mpg highway, and 20 mpg combined (20/23/21 mpg with rear-wheel drive). The high-functioning winner, though, is the diesel models with 23/33/27 mpg.
The Silverado sports starts at $29,300 MSRP, with the double cab models starting at $33,200 and the crew cabs at $35,600. Expect to pay about $3,500 more for a similarly equipped diesel version. But keep in mind that the improved fuel efficiency of the Silverado also brings with it a smoother, quieter ride than most full-sized diesel truck competitors.
Ford F-150
The 2021 Ford F150 Pickup 4WD 6 cyl, Automatic (S10), Turbo is an intelligent pick for hauling and fuel efficiency. The gas-fueled 3.5 L has a starting MSRP of $33,935 and gets 18/23/20. This efficiency is improved in the diesel 3.0 L with 20/27/23 mpg. This diesel starts at the MSRP of $30,985.
The 3.5L PowerBoost full hybrid V6 model is estimated at 25 mpg city and 26 mpg highway and boasts an impressive 12.7k pounds maximum towing capacity. The base price of this model is $58,490, but the fuel savings and solid work performance make this a real winner.
Ford Ranger
Ford’s Super Cab Ranger’s MSRP starts at $24,820. Ford doesn’t have a diesel model released in the United States. But the regular gasoline four-cylinder, 2.3 liter, turbo automatic (S10) model gets an impressive 21 city, 26 highway, and 23 combined mpg.
And don’t miss the new Cyber Orange and Velocity Blue exterior colors.
Jeep Gladiator
The manual stick-shift Gladiator from Jeep runs a typical 16 mpg city, 23 mpg highway, and 19 mpg combined, while its automatic counterpart averages 17/22/19 mpg. The diesel versions come in at a more impressive 22/28/24 mpg.
The advantages of the EcoDiesel are not limited to fuel economy. It accelerates faster than the gasoline model, despite its heavy weight. The extra weight also doesn’t seem to affect stopping or handling either. The faster responsive engine of the diesel accelerates and pulls out of turns more quickly. And the heavier engine helps stop the diesel faster than the gasoline models.
However, the concession EcoDiesel drivers will make is the higher sticker price and lower towing capacity over the manual gas-powered model. While the manual Gladiator has a starting price of $34,645 and the automatic is about $2k higher, diesel buyers should expect to pay an additional $4k to $14.5k, depending on the model selected.