What Are the Best MPG Pickup Trucks?

The truck wars have long been battled on the front lines of engine output, towing capacity, payload limits, off-road prowess and tailgate innovations, among sundry other selling points. Even before the rise of electric pickup trucks, fuel efficiency claimed new territory in the battle for the best. The segment includes hybrid full-size trucks from Ford and Toyota that are still vying with diesel trucks from GM, as well as electric trucks from newcomers like Rivian. If fuel economy is a priority for you, here are the most efficient pickup trucks for the 2025 model year.

Related: 2024 Full-Size Pickup Truck Challenge: Which Full-Size Pickup Truck Has the Best Real-World MPG?

The fuel economy ratings for the hybrid, gas and diesel trucks listed below are based on the EPA-estimated combined mpg rating. The electric trucks listed rely on the mpg-equivalent rating, which is the EPA’s conversion formula of a gallon of gas equaling 33.7 kilowatt-hours of electric energy. It’s an imperfect estimate, but at least it’s consistent. Truck size, wheel packages, rear-wheel versus four-wheel drive, and bed and cab sizes — all of these factors affect fuel economy ratings. As always, your mileage may vary.

How a truck is used will also impact fuel economy. For drivers who log mostly highway miles and tow frequently, a diesel option is still the most fuel-efficient one. Conversely, if your truck is more of an executive coach, an electric pickup might make the most sense. Hybrids fill in the gaps, as do smaller-displacement turbocharged gas engines.

What Is the Most Fuel-Efficient Gas Pickup Truck?

The Best: Ford Maverick, 25 mpg combined, all-wheel drive

The Maverick might best be known for its 38-mpg hybrid powertrain, but this compact pickup goes relatively far on its gas-only 238-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, as well. It pairs with a standard eight-speed automatic transmission and AWD, and the EPA rates it at 25 mpg combined. The Maverick may look like the F-150’s little brother, but it shares a platform with the Escape compact SUV and has a 4,000-pound max towing capacity.

The Rest

• Hyundai Santa Cruz, 25 mpg, front-wheel drive
  The Santa Cruz matches the Maverick as its only rival in the compact truck segment, albeit with a different drivetrain. Based on the Hyundai Tucson SUV, the Santa Cruz does not get its brother’s hybrid option, sticking with a 191-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder and an eight-speed automatic. It nets 25 mpg combined with FWD or 24 mpg with AWD. Top trims get a 281-hp, turbocharged four-cylinder mated with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic and up to a 5,000-pound towing capacity, but it cuts 2 mpg.
• Best gas mpg mid-size pickup truck: Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma, 23 mpg, RWD
  With a rating of 23 mpg from their turbocharged four-cylinder engines, the base Ranger and base Tacoma outpace the Nissan Frontier and Honda Ridgeline by 2 mpg in the mid-size pickup truck segment. 4WD lowers the Ranger to an EPA-rated 22 mpg combined, and the 4WD Tacoma drops to 21 mpg. The GM mid-size twins, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, net 20 mpg from their turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder.
• Best gas mpg full-size pickup truck: Ford F-150 and Ram 1500, 21 mpg, RWD
  The most efficient gas versions of a full-size pickup truck outpace GM’s mid-sizers. The RWD Ram 1500 Tradesman nets a 21 mpg combined rating, though the Tradesman HFE version can do better with 23 mpg. The F-150 XL RWD gets 21 mpg from its 325-hp, turbocharged 2.7-liter V-6.

What Is the Most Fuel-Efficient Diesel Pickup Truck?

The Best: Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 26 mpg, RWD

GM’s turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder Duramax engine makes 305 hp and 495 pounds-feet of torque, good for a towing capacity of up to 13,300 pounds. It pairs with a 10-speed automatic transmission for a smooth, refined and even quiet ride while netting up to 26 mpg combined in either the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 or 2025 GMC Sierra 1500 with RWD. Adding 4WD drops it to 24 mpg combined, which is still better than every other gas and hybrid full-size truck.

The Rest

There are no other diesel light-duty pickup truck options for the 2025 model year. Excluding heavy-duty trucks, GM corners the market on full-size diesel truck options, with Ford discontinuing the F-150 Power Stroke in 2021 and Ram shelving the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel in 2023.

What Is the Most Fuel-Efficient Hybrid Pickup Truck?

The Best: Ford Maverick, 38 mpg, FWD

The hybrid version of the Maverick compact pickup truck is the most fuel-efficient pickup on the market that doesn’t require a plug; it gets 38 mpg combined with FWD. New for 2025 and as a response to demand, an AWD version nets 37 mpg combined with its 191-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, small motor and continuously variable automatic transmission.

The Rest

• Best hybrid mpg mid-size pickup truck: Toyota Tacoma, 23 mpg, 4WD
  When Toyota finally got around to redesigning the bestselling mid-size pickup for 2024, it added a hybrid powertrain option. The 326-hp hybrid system pairs a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder with one electric motor for standard 4WD and a 23-mpg combined rating. With the i-Force Max system, the Tacoma can tow up to 6,000 pounds.
• Best hybrid mpg full-size pickup truck: Ford F-150, 23 mpg, 4WD
  The F-150 hybrid’s twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 pairs with an electric motor to generate a total of 430 hp in what Ford dubs the PowerBoost. It works with a 10-speed automatic and 4WD and has an EPA rating of 23 mpg. Ford offers the hybrid powertrain on the XLT and above trim levels, so it’s readily available.

What Is the Most Fuel-Efficient Battery-Electric Pickup Truck?

The Best: Rivian R1T, 87 mpg-e

Range might be the most common marketing spec in the electric vehicle space, but how efficiently an automaker can design an electric truck might be more important. Inherently heavier than other passenger vehicles, trucks get even heavier when saddled with a massive battery pack to move all that weight. The GMC Hummer EV Pickup, for instance, weighs more than 9,000 pounds. The most efficient electric truck, as measured by the EPA, is one of the lighter ones: The 2025 Rivian R1T Dual Max, which has a 140-kWh battery and dual-motor AWD; it nets 87 mpg-e and has a range of 420 miles. Rivian also sells pickups with the 108.5-kWh Large and 92.5-kWh Standard packs.

The Tesla Cybertruck is considered a heavy-duty truck by the EPA and is therefore not subject to its rating system. Tesla claims up to a 325-mile range for the dual-motor AWD version.

The Rest

• Chevrolet Silverado EV, 70 mpg-e, AWD
  The Silverado EV shares its battery pack with the super heavy and super inefficient GMC Hummer EV SUV and Pickup (53 mpg-e), as well as the GMC Sierra EV (64 mpg-e). It’s not as heavy as its Hummer EV stablemates, however, and it has an EPA-rated range of up to 422 miles.
• Ford F-150 Lightning, 70 mpg-e, AWD
  The largest battery pack in an F-150 Lightning is 131 kWh, which is why its range is only 320 miles. However, it does have the same 70 mpg-e efficiency rating as the Silverado EV.

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• Pickup Trucks 101: Gas Vs. Diesel, Which Is Better?
• What MPG Does the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2 Diesel Get in Real-World Driving?
• Pickup Truck Buying Guide: How Much Truck Do You Need?
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