Green Oval? Ford Claims Top MPG Marks for Upcoming F-150 Diesel
Ford Motor Company claims its 3.0-liter Power Stroke diesel V6, due to appear under the hood of the F-150 starting in May, blows the competition out of the water in terms of fuel economy. The automaker now cites an EPA-estimated 30 mpg highway figure for its light-duty diesel pickup, beating Ram’s 3.0-liter EcoDiesel in pump-passing power.
The real test, however, comes later this year, when General Motors debuts its own light-duty Duramax mill — a Flint-built diesel inline-six of unannounced power and efficiency.
While the Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t yet added the rating to its website, Ford has happily announced its status as having the highest MPG rating for a full-size truck. In rear-drive guise, the F-150 diesel rates a 22 mpg figure in city driving, and 25 mpg combined. A 2018 Ram 1500 Ecodiesel RWD consumes fuel at a rate of 20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, and 23 mpg combined.
The Ford truck sees environmental assistance from a 10-speed automatic transmission, whereas the Ram makes do with a six-speed. Dearborn also tops Auburn Heights in terms of twist, too. The F-150 Power Stroke meters out 220 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque, good for a 11,400-pound towing figure. That’s 20 lb-ft more than what’s on offer from Ram. Retail customers can expect a payload capacity of 1,940 pounds, while fleet operators can boost the number by an extra 80 lbs.
In the Blue Oval stable, a base rear-drive F-150, boasting a dual-injection 3.3-liter V6, carries a rating of 19 mpg city, 25 mpg highway, and 22 mpg combined. The thriftiest 2.7-liter F-150 has a rating of 20 city/26 highway/22 combined.
“Even a few years ago, customers wouldn’t have imagined an EPA-estimated rating of 30 mpg highway would be possible in a full-size pickup, but our team of crazy-smart engineers rose to the challenge,” said Hau Thai-Tang, Ford’s executive vice president of product development and purchasing, in a statement.
Given that the HFE version of the 2015 Ram EcoDiesel carried a 29 mpg highway rating, it’s safe to say buyers probably felt 30 mpg was within the realm of possibility.
While GM’s 3.0-liter Duramax won’t be available for the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500’s summer launch, it shouldn’t be too long before we see figures for that oil burner. What’s worrying for Ford is that the GM truck also carries a 10-speed automatic. Who wants to place MPG bets?
[Image: Ford Motor Company]
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I'll buy one! 30 MPG is freaking awesome from a PICKUP Truck. And where I live (already had this argument on another site), diesel is cheaper than midgrade gas (what is required by the V8s) (OH-IO!). (After a bunch of people compared gas buddy and otherwise, thats not true in places like california and the east coast, but in the midwest, Diesel is about the same price as regular, sometimes cheaper, sometimes more, but ALWAYS cheaper than midgrade) But If you live in the costs, fuel price and maintenance costs will likely make it "not worth it". More Horsepower in daily driving and haulting situations + better fuel economy? count me in. Now I can probably justify a truck for DD duty... which is going to make some people mad. So therefore you anti-truckers out there.. as trucks get into the 30MPG territory, their popularity is only going to grow. thats what I get out my Hyundai, and I only bought it for the fuel economy because 14 MPG in a truck wasn't going to cut it... but 30? sweet!
"I read an interesting article on the direction and what current Baby Boomers want. They want a small to medium SUVs." --- Your article seems to have missed a class. Those boomers also want a small to medium pickup truck, not a Road Whale™ full sized or Road Whale Junior™ of a "mid-sized" pickup truck.