Pickup Trucks
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A software glitch could cause Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups to overheat.
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2015 Ford F-150 Aluminum Body, Smaller Engines: Details EmergeThe 2015 Ford F-150 full-size pickup truck won't be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show until tomorrow morning, but some details of its innovations to boost gas mileage have emerged already. Ford apparently gave exclusive details to The New York Times, which reports that the new truck will use an...
John Voelcker -
Is The BulletTruck What Semis Will Look Like In The Future?Recently, we attracted flak from some quarters of our readership for featuring pickup trucks. While not green by the standards of modern electric vehicles and hybrids, their push towards greater efficiency is equally important--because the biggest gains come from the most popular and...
Antony Ingram -
One Ford F-150 Pickup Driver Profile--Why He Likes Electric CarsAs we noted in our roundup of most popular stories last year, the topic of covering pickup trucks turned controversial on Green Car Reports this year. It started with a story on how what technologies we expect to be used for the 2015 Ford F-150 to boost its fuel economy from the current 18 mpg...
John Voelcker -
Why Green Car Reports Writes About Full-Size Pickup TrucksOnce in a while, we're blind-sided by responses to an article we publish--and we learn something in the process. On December 23, we wrote about ways that the all-new 2015 Ford F-150 full-size pickup truck might get better gas mileage. We learned that at least some of our readers seem to resent the...
John Voelcker -
2015 Ford F-150 Gas Mileage: What We Know So FarThe Ford F-150 full-size pickup is the best-selling single nameplate in the U.S. market, so any changes to Ford's premier truck mean a lot. Buyers, dealers, and the whole industry are paying close attention to information about the next generation 2015 Ford F-150, the first all-new design of Ford's...
John Voelcker -
Diesel has been an option for heavy-duty pickup users for quite some time now, and the sights and sounds of a big Power Stroke-equipped Ford or Cummins-engined RAM will be quite familiar to most. It's taken longer for the fuel to find acceptance in the light-duty, full-size pickup market, but that's now changing--and over the next few years, several diesel trucks will hit the market, improving hugely on their gasoline-powered counterparts. With diesel trucks from Chevy, Ford, Nissan and RAM available either now or over the next few years, we've pulled them all into an ultimate guide with...
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2015 Chevy Colorado Mid-Size Pickup To Offer Diesel OptionNeed a pickup truck but don't want to see your wages burned away at the gas station? A diesel truck could be just what you need. Chevrolet will be latest to offer such an option when it equips the 2015 Colorado mid-size pickup with a diesel engine. When the Colorado arrives next year, the range...
Antony Ingram -
Via Electric Pickup Outdoes Solar Roofs With Solar Tonneau CoverVia Motors will offer what could be the ultimate accessory for its extended-range electric truck: a solar bed cover.
Stephen Edelstein -
2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Tested At 28 MPG On HighwayThe nation's only diesel half-ton truck may also be its most fuel-efficient.
Stephen Edelstein -
Yet Another New Fuel: Will Dimethyl Ether Matter For Big Trucks?It's frustrating driving a fuel-efficient vehicle sometimes. While you know you're just one small part of an effort to clean up transportation, seeing an 18-wheeler pumping clouds of black smoke into the air can make you feel like your efforts are going to waste. Cleaning up trucks should be a high...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Chevy Silverado Pickup Gas Mileage Rises For Largest V-8 EngineThe 2014 Silverado equipped with the 6.2-liter V-8 posts significant mileage improvements over last year's model.
Stephen Edelstein -
Nissan has become the latest company to announce a diesel option for its full-size pickup truck range. The next-generation Nissan Titan full-size truck will feature a newly-developed Cummins V-8 turbocharged diesel unit, helping broaden the model's appeal in the competitive truck market. A partnership between Cummins and Nissan will see the unit optimized for the next-gen Titan, and some serious power and torque will be on offer. Nissan is expecting a torque rating in the mid-500 lbs-ft range, while maximum output should comfortably top 300 horsepower. Those numbers should put it comfortably...
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Via Motors Latest To Try Electric Vehicle-To-Home Backup Power TechJapanese companies have explored the concept of electric vehicles powering houses for some time, but with events like last year's Hurricane Sandy fresh in peoples' minds, some U.S. organizations are investigating it too. One of these is the Department of Defense. Another is Via Motors, the Bob...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Ford F-150 Natural-Gas Readiness Package For Half-Ton PickupFord is the latest automaker to offer a natural gas fuel option for its best-selling pickup truck range. The 2014 Ford F-150 will be offered with a natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) preparation option aiding installation of a suitable fuel system at qualified third-party...
Antony Ingram -
Toyota And Ford To Go It Alone On Hybrid Trucks After StudySometimes the most significant divorces are handled in the most minimalist way. So it was with a brief press statement from Toyota today, noting that after completing a "feasibility study" that took almost two years, the two companies have chosen not to pursue a collaboration on hybrid powertrains...
John Voelcker -
2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Unveiled: 240 HP, Higher Fuel EconomyChrysler-Fiat took the wraps off its long-anticipated 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the first light-duty pickup truck to be offered with a diesel engine in many years. The new diesel pickup uses the same 3.0-liter turbodiesel V-6 already fitted to the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel utility vehicle...
John Voelcker -
Less-Polluting Clean Diesel Trucks Now 28 Percent Of All Diesels On the RoadEver seen the Steven Spielberg film, Duel? The film, its plot about an unseen trucker terrorizing a hapless motorist, no doubt conjures a few preconceptions about truckers and the smoke-spewing beasts they command. Truckers aren't as scary these days, nor do their chariots pump huge smokey stacks...
Antony Ingram -
The U.S. will save a lot more gasoline by improving the fuel efficiency of gas-guzzling high-volume pickup trucks than it will swapping out Toyota Corollas for Prius hybrids. That's mathematical fact. Now, finally, the makers of the three most popular pickup truck lines sold in the U.S. are boosting the fuel economy offered in new trucks for 2014. The trend began in 2011, when Ford launched its F-150 with an EcoBoost engine option that delivered V-8 power with the EPA ratings of a V-6 engine. And it's picking up steam for next year, with GM touting the projected mileage ratings of its all-new...
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How To Make A Semi Much More Efficient: Cummins 'SuperTruck'Consider this: The average semi truck is actually quite economical. No, really. A typical long-haul truck averages between 5.5 and 6.5 mpg. But it's also really, really heavy--up to 80,000 pounds, for a fully-loaded trailer. That's around 36 tons, which puts some perspective on how hard each of...
Antony Ingram -
Texans Still Love Trucks, But Hybrid Sales Are GrowingTexans really like their trucks. It's one of life's constants--the sun will always rise, politicians will always lie, Texans will always buy trucks. That doesn't mean Texan car buyers aren't open to new ideas though, and though it may come as a surprise, hybrid sales are actually increasing at...
Antony Ingram -
Mitsubishi GR-HEV Concept: Hybrid Pickup At GenevaMitsubishi doesn't sell a pickup truck in the U.S, but elsewhere around the world its L200 model is a highly popular utility vehicle. Typically powered by a 2.5-liter turbodiesel engine, the L200 mixes a one-ton payload with almost 6,000 lbs of braked towing capacity. It's smaller than many U.S...
Antony Ingram -
Mitsubishi To Show Hybrid Pickup, 'Suburban Electric' Concepts At GenevaHow long do you think Mitsubishi has been working on electric vehicles? Since a few years before the i-MiEV electric car hit Japanese roads, perhaps? Nope--1966. It surprised us too, but illustrates that the company actually has considerable experience in developing electric powertrains, even if a...
Antony Ingram -
Next Ford F-150: Advanced Materials Likely, Hybrid Powertrain PossibleThe new Atlas Concept that Ford Motor Co. [NYSE: F] unveiled at Detroit this past week revealed several interesting technologies that altogether could save fuel (active grille shutters, active wheel shutters, a drop-down air dam, and power running boards) and be useful to serious truck users...
Bengt Halvorson