Photo: Nissan
As their description suggests, heavy-duty pickups are generally bought as work vehicles, spending most of their lives towing stuff or carrying big payloads in their beds. That makes them a different proposition from the rest of the passenger cars, SUVs and even light-duty trucks.
One of the rules that don't concern these workhorses is the need to make the fuel rating known to the buyer. Trucks exceeding a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds (3,855 kg) don't come with a window sticker showing their mpg ratings, and Consumer Reports thinks that's wrong.
The organization ran its own tests using four of the most popular heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. - the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, Ford F-250, Ram 2500 and Nissan Titan XD - and found some unexpected results that might surprise even the vehicles' owners.
It turns out that the diesel versions are not more efficient than their gasoline counterparts, as popular belief would have it, exceeding their mpg values by anything between 1 and 2 mpg. The diesel-powered trucks returned between 14 and 15 miles to the gallon (15.7 - 16.8 l/100 km).
However disconcerting the findings might be, they don't really tell the whole story. The higher torque values of the diesel engines would make them a lot more useful when towing or carrying a large payload, in which case their efficiency would probably outdo that of a gasoline engine.
Besides, since there is no clear testing procedure for the mpg of heavy-duty trucks, the results obtained by Consumers Union can't be put into context. The EPA keeps tabs on the emission ratings, but it uses a work factor which varies for each model to calculate the standard.
But that didn't stop Consumers Union from writing a letter to Senate and House committee leaders asking them to allow the NHTSA and the EPA to make heavy-duty truck fuel economy data available to the public. David Friedman, director of cars and product policy and analysis at Consumers Union, says the EPA already has the information sent by the automakers and measured in gallons per ton-mile (one-ton payload transported over one mile), so releasing it would require minimum effort.
"Based on new data from testing at Consumer Reports, these heavy-duty diesel pickups cost about $35,000 to fuel over the first 15 years of the vehicles' lives. Further, they can cost $7,000 to $10,000 more to fuel than their light-duty gasoline counterparts over that same time," he said, quoted by Automotive News. "Without information like this, consumers are powerless to make informed decisions when shopping for these vehicles for their businesses or family."
The organization ran its own tests using four of the most popular heavy-duty trucks in the U.S. - the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, Ford F-250, Ram 2500 and Nissan Titan XD - and found some unexpected results that might surprise even the vehicles' owners.
It turns out that the diesel versions are not more efficient than their gasoline counterparts, as popular belief would have it, exceeding their mpg values by anything between 1 and 2 mpg. The diesel-powered trucks returned between 14 and 15 miles to the gallon (15.7 - 16.8 l/100 km).
However disconcerting the findings might be, they don't really tell the whole story. The higher torque values of the diesel engines would make them a lot more useful when towing or carrying a large payload, in which case their efficiency would probably outdo that of a gasoline engine.
Besides, since there is no clear testing procedure for the mpg of heavy-duty trucks, the results obtained by Consumers Union can't be put into context. The EPA keeps tabs on the emission ratings, but it uses a work factor which varies for each model to calculate the standard.
But that didn't stop Consumers Union from writing a letter to Senate and House committee leaders asking them to allow the NHTSA and the EPA to make heavy-duty truck fuel economy data available to the public. David Friedman, director of cars and product policy and analysis at Consumers Union, says the EPA already has the information sent by the automakers and measured in gallons per ton-mile (one-ton payload transported over one mile), so releasing it would require minimum effort.
"Based on new data from testing at Consumer Reports, these heavy-duty diesel pickups cost about $35,000 to fuel over the first 15 years of the vehicles' lives. Further, they can cost $7,000 to $10,000 more to fuel than their light-duty gasoline counterparts over that same time," he said, quoted by Automotive News. "Without information like this, consumers are powerless to make informed decisions when shopping for these vehicles for their businesses or family."
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