Diesel

There are so many pickup trucks to choose from in the American marketplace, picking just one when it comes time to buy can be a seriously difficult choice. That’s why we have the Cars.com Top Picks for 2026 to help you choose a great truck to fit exactly what you want to do.

If you’re in the market for a new pickup truck, you may be wondering if you should get a gas engine or a diesel engine since there are significant differences between the two.

Here’s a look at the best pickup trucks for getting more done with less fuel — be it gasoline, diesel or electricity — sorted by truck size.

A revised Cummins turbo-diesel six-cylinder engine makes the refreshed 2025 Ram 2500 one of the slickest-driving heavy-duty trucks on the market.

For 2025, a new 6.7-liter Cummins turbo-diesel six-cylinder makes a little more horsepower than its predecessor in the Ram 2500 and 3500 Heavy Duty trucks.

For the 2025 model year, Chevy has kept updates to just some new colors and changes in standard equipment across the Silverado 1500 lineup.

Another major GM recall affecting diesel-equipped pickup trucks and SUVs involves a transmission control valve that may fail.

Diesel engines don’t have spark plugs; instead, they use the super-heated air created by their high compression ratios to ignite the diesel fuel as it’s injected into the cylinder.

Die-hard fans may lament the passing of the Hemi V-8, but the 2025 Ram 1500’s new Hurricane twin-turbo straight-six engines make up in power and smoothness what they lack in audible growl.

Cold weather adversely affects diesel engines more than gas engines, but that’s only partly due to the engine itself.