2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel: You Won’t Believe the MPG We Got Towing & Empty (Video)

We did not expect these great numbers!

2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel mpg towing test comparison
2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel

The new 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is finally here, and it’s about to take on TFLtruck’s 98-mile highway mpg loop with and without a trailer. This test is very important as the EPA does not yet have a fuel efficiency rating for this new truck. In this review we will find out what mpg this Tradesman 2WD truck can manage on the highway at 70 MPH. We will also see how it stacks up against competition on the same loop with a 7,000 lbs trailer.

2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel

The truck we are testing is a quad cab Tradesman 2WD. This is nearly the most light-weight and affordable new 2020 Ram 1500 diesel that you can get. The curb weight of the truck is around 5,200 lbs with a full tank of fuel. The M.S.R.P is around $41,000. This include the $4,995 price for the 3rd-generation 3.0-liter turbo-diesel. It also includes about around $3,500 in optional equipment (Level 1 group, chrome package, and towing package).

The truck you see here is also equipped with a 3.55 rear axle ratio and a 33-gallon fuel tank.

The new 3.0-liter engine is now the class-leader in torque. It’s rated at 480 lb-ft of torque. The 260 horsepower is good, but it’s not class-leading.

We test all half-ton trucks on this same identical loop with a 7,000 lbs trailer. This trailer weight represents a typical camping trailer, a boat, or a cargo trailer. In this case, we are using a Cimarron horse trailer from Transwest.

The truck is going up against a Ford F-150 3.0-liter Power Stroke diesel V6 that delivered a 11.6 MPG on this loop with a 7,000 lbs trailer. Check out the TFLtruck Highway MPG Guide to see all other trucks we tested.

The 2020 Ram EcoDiesel posted a pump-verified result of 12.4 MPG. This is now, officially the best towing MPG result we have recorded.

Next, we ran the truck without any load. We expected the truck to get in the neighborhood of 33-35 MPG on the highway at 70 MPH. The truck really surprised us with a pump-verified 40 MPG.

Watch the video for all the details.