What Chevy Truck has the Best Gas Mileage?
When looking at the various Chevy trucks, it can be difficult to find the best one for you. One thing to look at when deciding what Chevy truck to get is the gas mileage because it can make or break your bank account. So which Chevy truck has the best gas mileage?
The Chevy truck with the best gas mileage is the Silverado. It has 23 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway. However, it only has this high gas mileage with the Duramax 3.0 L Turbo-Diesel I-6 (LM2) engine. The Chevy Colorado models have better mpg with all of their engines.
Below, we will take a look at all Chevy truck models and their mpg. We will also talk about how the engine and other factors affect the fuel economy.
What is MPG and Fuel Economy
Miles per gallon is the unit of measurement used to tell you how efficiently your vehicle has used the gas or diesel to power it. Miles per gallon (MPG) is the measurement for fuel economy. For your vehicle, you want a higher MPG because that creates a better fuel economy for your vehicle as a whole.
This will save you money at the pump because you won’t need to buy as much gas or diesel. It also means your car will go longer with the gas it has and you won’t need to make many frequent stops on road trips. Better fuel economy is also better for the environment.
For modern cars, the average MPG in the US is about 25 mpg. Anything above that is the best you can get, most vehicles rarely go above 30 mpg. Anything below 25 mpg or even into the teens is not a good option at all. You will be spending way too much money on gas and road trips would take a whole lot longer.
For vehicles overall, electric cars have the best mpg, just because it is based more on power than gas, and they can reach into the 100s in mpg. For non-electric cars, the best cars will have close to 50 mpg, but that is very rare. Chevy’s Silverado does have some of the best mpg compared to other standard pickup trucks.
Chevy Truck’s MPG
There are three types of Chevy trucks: the Colorado, Silverado, and Silverado HD. Between these models, the Colorado has the best mpg overall, with city mpg in the high teens and highway mpg consistently between 20 and 30.
The Colorado’s best engine is the 2WD Duramax 2.8 L Turb-Diesel engine with 20/30 mpg. However, the Silverado has the best mpg overall at 23 city and 31 highway with the Duramax 3.0 L Turbo-Diesel I-6 (LM2), its other engines have relatively low mpg in the city and the highway.
The Silverado HD can barely keep up with its best engine being the 6.6 V8 gas engine with only 19 mpg on the highway.
To see the full stats for all of the models and engines, see the charts below.
Colorado Models
| City/Highway MPG | Engine Type |
| 19/25 | Standard 2.5 L 4-Cylinder |
| 18/25 | 3.6 L DOHC V6 |
| 20/30 or 18/22* | Duramax 2.8 L Turbo-Diesel |
Silverado Models
| City/Highway MPG | Engine Type |
| 19/22 | 2.7 L Turbo (L3B) |
| 16/21 | 2WD 5.3 L EcoTec3 V8 (L84) |
| 15/20 | 4×4 5.3 L EcoTec3 V8 (L84) |
| 15/19 | High Country LTD 4×4 5.3 EcoTec 3 V8 (L84/NSS) |
| 14/17 | LT Trail Boss LTD 4×4 5.3 EcoTec 3 V8 (L84/NSS) |
| 14/18 | 6.2 L EcoTec3 V8 (L87) |
| 14/19 | 4×4 6.2 L EcoTec3 V8 (L87/NSS) |
| 13/17 | LT Trail Boss LTD 4×4 6.2 L EcoTec3 V8 (L87/NSS) |
| 23/31 | Duramax 3.0 L Turbo-Diesel I-6 (LM2) |
Silverado HD Models
| City/Highway MPG | Engine Type |
| */14 | DuraMax 6.6 L Turbo-Diesel V8 |
| */19 | 6.6 V8 Gas Engine |
Engine Type
Looking at the charts above, you can see that some engines were repeated but changed the type of drive the vehicle was in. If the vehicle has four-wheel drive (4×4), it can reduce the fuel economy.
You can see this in action with the Silverado models. For example, the two-wheel-drive (2WD) 5.3 L EcoTec3 V8 (L84) engine has 16/21 mpg. While the 4×4 5.3 L EcoTec3 V8 (L84) engine has 15/20.
This may not seem like a big difference, but it can majorly affect your wallet in the long run. Whatever Chevy model you may own, using 4-wheel drive sparingly can greatly increase your gas mileage, regardless of which engine the truck has.
Driving Situation
The way your drive can affect how high or low your fuel economy is. For example, if you are idling for too long or too often your mpg will lower because you are burning fuel while you are stopped and idling.
Another way you can reduce your fuel economy is while driving in cold weather for a short period of time. While driving in colder weather, your engine will take longer to heat up and will run at the wrong temperatures.
This causes it to burn more fuel to try and get to the correct temperature faster. Having extra cargo or towing a trailer will also reduce fuel economy because your engine will burn more fuel so it has enough power to move the extra weight.
Fuel Type
Luckily, diesel fuel is more fuel-efficient. It has a bit more energy than gas alone, which gives more power to the engine as a whole and can move your car farther than a normal gas car.
You can see this with the Chevy Colorado models: the 2WD Duramax 2.8 L Turbo-Diesel engine has 20/30 mpg while the Standard 2.5 L 4-Cylinder engine has 19/25 mpg and the 3.6 L DOHC V6 engine has 18/25 mpg.
Although this may not be the case with all vehicles because some have overall better mpg than any diesel engine, diesel does have the ability to increase your vehicle’s fuel economy.