With Oil at $100 a Barrel

Pickup Trucks Try Sipping Their Fuel

by Tudor Van Hampton

Contractors don’t typically buy pickup trucks for fuel economy, but with prices for crude oil topping $100 per barrel, manufacturers are trying to find ways to put those gas guzzlers into rehab. The Chicago Auto Show, held recently at the McCormick Place Convention Center, is the place to find the latest in work trucks. This year, vendors at the annual Midwest event rolled out the latest in energy efficiency.

The ‘General’ Goes Green

This fall, General Motors Corp. will begin selling a new two-mode hybrid Silverado/Sierra. The company thinks it will be a bigger hit than its discontinued Silverado mild hybrid, which was little more than an electric-power source for tools dressed up as a green car.

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The guts of the new gas-electric system replace traditional gearing with two 60-kW electric motors. Powered by a 332-hp, Vortec 6.0L engine and a 300-Volt bank of batteries, the motor yields variable gear ratios that draw on output from the engine, batteries or both at the same time to achieve up to 40% mpg improvement in the city. Its range is 500 miles on most fill-ups. Prices are still up in the air, but we expect a premium.

The 2009 vehicles will be offered only in a crew cab, but buyers will be able to choose between two- and four-wheel drive. Brakes are equipped standard with regenerative action as well as stability control, traction control and four-channel ABS. Most options are the same as the gas-only truck.

Dodge Springs into Action

Among the most noticeable changes in the 2009 Dodge Ram light-duty pickup is a new rear suspension that strays from the traditional Hotchkiss leaf-spring style in favor of cruising-friendly coil springs. Also radically different are diesel and gas-electric hybrid options that are set to roll out over the next two years.

As the only full-size pickup to come with a solid rear axle mated to coil springs, Ram 1500, available this fall, will be selling a more modern, comfy ride. But Chrysler LLC says performance won’t sag. The package is 40 lb lighter and, according to Jim Press, vice chairman and president, has posted less road hop in laboratory tests than the Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150 and Toyota Tundra.

Maximum towing capacity stays the usual 9,100 lb, which lags behind the others, but a lighter chassis, combined with sleeker styling and powertrain upgrades, makes the new Ram at least 4% more fuel efficient than the 2008 model.

A standard V6 promises up to 20 mpg on highways. A smaller Cummins diesel, slated for 2009, will translate into a 25% gain, and the two-mode HEMI hybrid, set to arrive in 2010, will make users feel as though they are filling up a midsize sedan rather than a work truck, posting at least a 40% improvement in the city.

A crew cab replaces Mega Cab on the 1500, and it will sport two, lockable cargo bins that run the length of its 5-ft, 7-in. bed rails-plenty of space for tools.

Ford Flies Overseas

Later this year, Ford Motor Co. will roll out two new offspring from opposite shores of the Atlantic Ocean, with a refined F-150 pickup and an ultra-compact Transit Connect cargo van. Although Ford has dumped a V6 engine option in favor of three V8s, like Dodge, it too is ramping up for light-duty diesel production by 2010 with this year’s introduction of its EasyFuel capless filler.

Developed in Europe where 50% of cars run on diesel, the new receptacle prevents drivers from making a costly error by using the wrong fuel nozzle. In the States, about half of all pickup trucks used for commercial purposes are equipped with diesels. Ford also plans to add EcoBoost gas engines using a turbocharger and direct injection to help cut fuel consumption.

Next year’s F-150 comes will a full V8 lineup that gets an average 1 mpg better fuel economy. Two 4.6L engines differ slightly in valving to give a choice between fuel efficiency and horsepower. For ethanol followers, a top-of-the-line, 5.4L V8 can accept E85.

Goodies that showed up on last year’s Super Duty are now available on the light-duty model, such as an optional tailgate step. To counter complaints that the last F-150’s side rails were raised too high, Ford also has designed a handy side step that slides in and out from under the bed with the kick of a work boot.

Sprinter Contender

The new Transit Connect van, which goes on sale next year, is a much smaller contender than the already-popular Dodge Sprinter. Shown flanked between two new F-150s on the show floor in Chicago, the streetwise cargo van is built on a Ford Focus car chassis that sports a beefier, rear leaf-spring suspension.

A 2.0L, inline, four-cylinder Duratec engine powers the front-wheel-drive van and gets an estimated 19 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway. Its wheel base is a squat 114.6 in., nearly 30 in. shorter than Sprinter’s shortest model. It drives like a car, works like a van and is engineered to be as tough as a truck, says Rob Stevens, Transit Connect’s chief engineer for the U.S. A diesel option may come later. The nimble van, which holds up to 143 cubic ft of cargo (Sprinter packs in 600 cu ft), has been sold in Europe since 2003, with 109,900 moved out last year.

Pricing for the van has not yet been announced, but it probably will cost less than Ford’s utilitarian Econoline. An aftermarket ladder rack will be available as a dealer-installed option.

(Van Hampton is Midwest bureau chief of Engineering News-Record, sister publication of Midwest Construction.) 

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