Trucks vs Fuel Economy

Trucks and fuel economy are not happy partners. When trucks are designed, utility-oriented factors such as payload, towing capacity, and cargo space have greater influence on a designer's direction than does overall efficiency. At the other end of the spectrum, automakers looking to build high mileage into their models often forego some of the capabilities most important to truck and SUV buyers, focusing on smaller engines, lighter structures, and tighter passenger or cargo capacity. There appears to be little common ground here; the Toyota Prius is as much a workhorse as the Dodge Ram is an economy car. This isn't to suggest that you should forego owning a pickup, SUV, or van for the sake of fuel economy. You should drive the vehicle that best suits your needs or sense of style and functionality, pure and simple. If you're interested in all that plus maximum efficiency, however, then your goal should be to choose the truck model that meets your requirements while delivering the greatest fuel economy and lowest emissions possible.

Mandating efficiency
Just as governmental emissions standards aim at reducing vehicle-related tailpipe and evaporative emissions, federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements aim at increasing vehicle fuel economy across an automaker's entire product line. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration establishes the CAFE standards, which are different for passenger cars and light trucks. For model years 1996 through 2004, the light truck standard was 20.7 mpg. Last year, however, a revision for light trucks established new goals of 21.0 mpg for model year 2005, 21.6 mpg for 2006, and 22.2 mpg for 2007.

A provision in the CAFE regulations allows alternative-fuel vehicles, such as those running on ethanol or natural gas, to earn an artificially high fuel economy credit for automakers' CAFE calculations. While the intent of the CAFE credit is to encourage the production and sale of vehicles that run on alternative fuels, automakers have largely embraced this incentive as a way to improve their fleet-average fuel economy figures and help meet mandated CAFE requirements without making across-the-board improvements on all their engines' efficiency.

Because of this, there is a substantial number of new truck and SUV flexible-fuel-vehicle (FFV) models that come with the ability to run on any mix of gasoline and ethanol E85 in the same tank. (E85 is 85 percent ethanol/15 percent gasoline.) These vehicles are equipped with specific engine packages and special fuel systems capable of handling the more corrosive ethanol fuel, and they're offered in many, but not all, states. They're also generally sold at no additional cost over the standard price of a gasoline-only model. More than 20 ethanol FFV models are now available, including the Chevrolet Avalanche 5.3-liter V-8, Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan 3.3-liter V-6, and Ford Explorer 4.0-liter V-6.