Gas prices have been trending in the wrong direction over the past few months. And while pickup trucks are among the best-selling vehicles in America, they tend to be less fuel-efficient than SUVs and sedans. Here are some pickup trucks that actually get decent mileage.
A Detroit Free Press review in June of fueleconomy.gov and the online configurators of automakers were used to find MPG of these pickup trucks.
Compact trucks
In most instances, the bigger the vehicle, the bigger the engine. While that normally helps with towing and off-road capability, it usually results in lower gas mileage. The Ford Maverick keeps that talking point alive as it’s one of the smallest trucks sold in the United States but is also the most fuel-efficient. The hybrid front-wheel drive trims can get up to 42 miles a gallon in the city and 35 miles on the highway.
Other competitors:
Medium-size trucks
The medium-size class of trucks has more offerings compared with the compact class. While they may not match the gas mileage of small trucks, many of them are still more efficient than the bigger pickups. The truck in this tier that gets the best gas mileage is the Toyota Tacoma. The Tacoma Hybrid i-Force Max trim averages 23 miles per gallon in the city and 24 on the highway.
Other competitors:
Full-size trucks
In the full-size tier of pickup trucks, fuel efficiency can widely vary. Some brands may offer a diesel that gets amazing mileage, while some trucks have supercharged V8s that seem like they burn fuel through as soon as you leave the gas station.
The trucks in this class with the best mileage are the Chevy Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500. They are essentially the same truck but from different brands and their identical fuel economy from their Duramax Turbo-Diesel trim shows that. These trucks can reach up to 23 miles per gallon on the road and 28 on the highway.
Other competitors:
Keenan Thompson is a car culture reporter for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Keenan at kthompson@freepress.com. Follow him on Instagram at @keenanautos. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: These pickup trucks get the best fuel economy
Reporting by Keenan Thompson, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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