2018 Ford F-150 Diesel Earns A Best-In-Class 30 MPG Highway

Fuel economy estimates for Ford’s first-ever F-150 Diesel have come in from the EPA, and today, the automaker announced that the new truck has met its 30-mpg highway fuel economy target exactly, earning ratings of 22 miles-per-gallon city, 30 highway, and 25 combined. These are the highest EPA fuel economy estimates in the full-size pickup truck segment today.

The 2018 Ford F-150 Diesel’s performance doesn’t suffer for its class-leading fuel economy, mind you. Equipped with a turbocharged, 3.0-liter Power Stroke V6 and the same 10-speed automatic transmission that’s become standard across the Ford F-150 lineup (save for trucks with the base 3.3L gas V6), the new truck produces up to 250 horsepower and a stout 440 lb-ft of torque. That’s more torque than you get with the Ram 1500’s available 5.7L Hemi V8, Ford says, and it affords the F-150 Diesel the ability to haul up to 2,020 pounds of payload, or to tow as much as 11,400 pounds.

As with the rest of the 2018 Ford F-150 lineup, including the hardcore Ford F-150 Raptor off-roading truck, the 2018 Ford F-150 Diesel benefits from a lightweight aluminum-alloy body. The Power Stroke V6 isn’t the most lightweight engine on offer, having a block made of compacted-graphite iron rather than aluminum – a necessary trade-off given the diesel’s higher peak cylinder pressures. But for truck buyers looking for a combination of good fuel economy and the best diesel payload/towing in the class, that’s a small price to pay.

“Even a few years ago, customers wouldn’t have imagined an EPA-estimated rating of 30 mpg highway would be possible in a full-size pickup,” says Ford Vice President of Product Development and Purchasing Hau Thai-Tang. “Our team of crazy-smart engineers rose to the challenge.”

The new, 2018 Ford F-150 Diesel will begin shipping to dealers in the US this May.