GM: 2020 Chevrolet Silverado Diesel Fuel Economy ‘Extremely Impressive’
13
Sponsored Links
General Motors is expecting the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado Duramax to have competitive fuel economy figures when the Environmental Protection Agency releases its ratings in the near future.
The automaker told Automotive News it is expecting the 2020 Chevrolet Silverado equipped with its new 3.0-liter inline-six LM2 Duramax diesel engine to return 30-40 MPG when travelling at speeds of 50-60 mph.
GM came up with these figures after performing tests at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this year (winning races isn’t all the Bowtie Brand does at IMS, turns out), which gave it a good idea of what to expect from EPA testing.
While executive chief engineer for the Silverado Tim Herrick promised the diesel truck’s fuel-economy rating would be “extremely impressive,” they may fall short of the rating Fiat Chrysler is expecting for its new 2020 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. The automaker said last week that it was expecting the truck to have “class leading” fuel economy and GM has yet to dispute those claims, AN says.
For comparison’s sake, the 2020 Ford F-150 with the 3.0-liter PowerStroke diesel is rated at 22 MPG city and 30 MPG highway for a combined rating of 25 MPG.
FCA’s and GM’s new diesel engines are also close in output. The Duramax is rated at 277 horsepower and 460 foot-pounds, while the EcoDiesel makes 260 horsepower and 480 foot-pounds. The F-150’s PowerStroke is rated at 250 horsepower and 440 foot-pounds.
The 2020 Chevrolet Silverado Duramax will go on sale later this year. The engine was not available for the 2019 model year, despite 2019 being the first year for the new generation of Silverado. GM will charge owners the same premium for the diesel engine as it does for the 6.2-liter V8 engine, which costs $2,495 more than the 5.3-liter V8.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet Silverado news, Duramax engine news and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
- Sweepstakes Of The Month: Win a Corvette Z06 and 2024 Silverado. Details here.
Sponsored Links
Dang I can already see another disappointment coming with this generation of trucks do they ever try to have the number 1 truck it looks like we going to fall behind in another category of the truck race
CarandDriver did a test and they were acheving over 40 mpg when they were driving with no A/C and was trying to drive conservatively. I don’t see a probelm getting 32-34 mpg in real world use at the least. That’s good news ?
I dont see a real difference personally with the ac on or off. maybe 2mpg on my little old Pontiac car! with a bigger vehicle like a Silverado, that should be less of an issue. I imagine you might loose 1mpg and 2 at the most. As for velocity difference, drag increases by velocity ^2, so 60 vs 70 mph would be a reduction of (60^2)/(70^2) which would be a reduction of 1.36. (was this a 4×4 as well?) that puts car and drivers estimate real fuel economy at 70mph right at about 30-32. if that is in 4×4, then expect the 2×4 to get 35mpg. Ford gets 25mpg in the mini powerstroke 4×4 XP.
I don’t know if it was 4 wheel drive or not. You could pull it up on their website though. Either way that’s quite impressive for a full size truck. I say 32-34 ok no highway just because I know how the EPA is.
Thing is nobody drive’s at those speeds. Here in Detroit its 70 mph. Everyone does 80. My 2017 6.2 gets 28 mpg going 50. Keep up with traffic at 80 and it drops to 19. With 270 hp and all that weight I bet its not impressive. TQ gets you there. HP keeps you there. I bet it drops to 20 mpg at 80 mph.
Engine specifications for the new 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel Inline-6 engines says why this Chevrolet Silverado will be a winner with 277 hp @ 3,750 rpm and 460 lb-ft @ 1,500-3,000 rpm as buyers will pick this over a Silverado equipped with a 6.2L V8.
I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer on the “30-40 mpg at 50-60 mph” claim, but based on personal experience in my K2xx, that’s not a ‘wow.” I have a ’16 crew cab 4×4 6.2, and driving in the Keys (obviously flat) on a 50-55 mpg stretch, uninterrupted, I averaged 36.2 mpg over 25 miles (using the onboard computer) – i.e. I achieved the same basic thing with my 420 hp gas V8. The baby D-max will have to produce a better spread to get my attention. I’d really like the opportunity to sample, my style, over a few days and report back.
I don’t think GM’s fuel economy testing will actually reflect how most consumers drive their trucks. To get an accurate highway mpg figure GM would need to test the truck in a real world highway driving situation with a truck cabin of four full size adults traveling at a constant highway speed of 75 miles per hour. The city mpg figure should be tested going roughly 30-50 miles per hour around town.
Don’t worry. The EPA will decimate this engines fuel economy ratings like it does for so many GM products and probably rate it at 20/25. I also have a real hard time believing the F-150 diesel figures with a 5 MPG highway spread going from RWD to 4X4. Virtually every GM and Hyundai I have owned or rented has easily exceeded it’s EPA highway rating by up to 6 MPG using 10% ethanol gas going well over 70 MPH on long drives.
Fingers crossed that the next generation 2021 MY Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe will get this exciting powertrain, as it will give them the perfect blend of extreme towing/hauling capacity and fuel efficiency for true family duty.
It’s doubtful that the SUV’s will have “extreme” towing capabilities if they maintain the hitch frame/receiver integrated into the bumper like K2 versions…that substantially limits capacity to about 8k, regardless of drivetrain considerations, etc.
Getting 30-40 mph driving 50-60 miles per hour is totally unrealistic? Most drivers go 65-80 miles per hour. Why don’t they test and give results in real driving conditions and then let people decide if it is worth the extra thousands of dollars for the diesel engine?
This would be my kind of truck. It puts out plenty of power while still being light duty (I won’t be carrying much), gets great MPG (hopefully that computer is accurate), and has an in-line six diesel. You don’t hear about that kind of engine these days. I hope those EPA ratings are just as impressive, or at least close.