The price of gasoline has gone up $0.79 in the past two weeks with the average price to fuel up hovering at the $4.43 mark. While a recent study from AutoPacific says this isn’t quite high enough for people to rethink their vehicle purchases, there’s knowing a truck is going to cost more to fuel up, and then there’s knowing how gas prices really affect your truck.
We took inspiration from a story released by Consumer Reports last week, which talked about vehicles costing more than $100 to fuel up. This is 100% based on the size of the fuel tank, and since trucks have larger tanks, well, it stands to reason they’re probably all going to cost more than $100 to fill the tank.
So, we figured it might be worth doing a comparison using today’s average fuel price to see how much it costs each truck to fill up. We looked at crew cab short box configurations for each truck, pricing ranges and tank sizes are specific to that configuration for each truck.
The surprising thing: Only one full-size truck falls under the $100 mark with today’s current gas prices. The two trucks that cost the most have the largest fuel tanks in the biz: the Ram 1500 TRX (33 gallons) and the Toyota Tundra (32.5 gallons). So, while it’ll cost you a pretty penny to fuel up, you can at least go a little longer between gas station stops.
Of course, the other thing you’re going to have to keep in mind is whether or not the trucks require premium fuel. The average fuel cost is looking at lower octane fuels, not the expensive stuff. So, trucks like the TRX, which requires premium fuel, or the Chevy Silverado with the 6.2-liter V-8, which recommends premium fuel, could end up costing a lot more.
The full fuel-up pricing breakdown is as follows:
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | Ford F-150 | GMC Sierra 1500 | Nissan Titan | Ram 1500 | Toyota Tundra | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Price range | $38,395 - $62,290 | $39,395 - $70,370 | $40,695 - $81,940 | $41,775 - $61,975 | $40,395 - $78,575 | $39,695 - $75,225 |
Base engine | 2.7L, 4-cylinder turbo | 3.3L, V-6 | 2.7L, 4-cylinder turbo | 5.6L, V-8 | 3.6L, V-6 | 3.5L, V-6 turbo |
Base MPGs (city/hwy/combined) 4X2 | 19/22/20 | 20/24/21 | 19/22/20 | 15/21/18 | 20/25/22 | 18/24/20 |
Recommended fuel for base engine | Regular | Regular | Regular | Premium | Regular | Regular |
Up-level engine | 6.2L, V-8 | 5.0L V-8 | 6.2L, V-8 | 5.6L, V-8 | 6.2L, V-8 supercharged | 3.5L, V-6 hybrid turbo |
Up-level MPGs (city/hwy/combined) 4X4 | 14/18/16 | 16/22/19 | 14/18/16 | 15/21/18 | 2012-10-14 00:00:00 | 19/22/21 |
Recommended fuel for up-level engine | Premium | Premium | Premium | Premium | Premium Required | Regular |
Fuel tank size | 24 | 26 | 24 | 26 | 26, 33 (TRX) | 22.5, 32.2 (Limited, Platinum,1794,TRD Pro, Capstone) |
Cost to fuel up | $106.32 | $115.18 | $106.32 | $115.18 | $115.18, $146.19 | $99.68, $142.65 |
This whole story is very simplified in that fuel economy and how you drive will play a big role in how often you have to pay at the pump. So, sure it’ll cost more than $100 to fill up, the question is whether you’re doing this monthly, weekly or more frequently.
So, while current gas prices may not be enough to make you switch vehicles, they might just be high enough for you to think about being more efficient when you do drive – not only in terms of how hard you mash the gas pedal but also how well you plan your errand routes.
Will these gas prices affect how or what you drive? If not, how high do gas prices have to get for you to make some kind of change?
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