Cost per mile difference in EcoDiesel and Hemi - My experience

[AJ73942]

Hello everyone,

I've seen a lot of posts where numbers are tossed about to compare the Hemi and the EcoDiesel trying to project the cost savings between the two over time. I am in a unique position to offer some real world numbers because I actually own one of each. Before I go further, let me post the specs on them.

2016 Ram 1500 LongHorn 4x4 HEMI 3.92 diff, air suspension, Extang revolution tonneau.
2015 Ram 1500 LongHorn 4x2 EcoDiesel 3.55 diff, coil springs, Extang revolution tonneau.

Each truck has Michelin Defender tires and they were installed within 500 miles of my purchasing the vehicle. The tonneau covers were put on within the first week of ownership. Each truck is bone stock.

I purchased the Hemi new on Memorial day with 24 miles on the clock. Presently it has just over 6400.
The EcoDiesel was purchased used on July 22, 2016 and presently has 12,900 miles.

Both trucks have been driven by the same driver - me. Both have covered the same highways and region where I live. Both have been subjected to the same wind and heat that we have here in the Oklahoma Panhandle. All data has used the same time frame to compare actual fuel prices paid for gasoline and diesel.

Every fill up on each vehicle has been logged on Fuelly since day one of my ownership. Here are the results as of today.

2016 Hemi - total miles driven 6.102. Total gallons of fuel purchased 346.8 cost $713.50 cost per mile .12 cents Hemi average mpg 18, best ever observed mpg 21.3 (one whole tank)
2015 Eco - total miles driven 5,153. Total gallons of fuel purchased 195.5 cost $453.32 cost per mile .08 cents EcoDiesel average mpg 26.4 best ever observed mpg 28.6 (one whole tank)

There are differences in the trucks to be sure. The Eco doesn't have the extra weight of the 4x4, but it doesn't have air suspension to lower it at speed either. The final drive ratios are different as well. The Eco has the standard 3.55 and the Hemi has the optional 3.92. Both have overdrive 8 speeds however and the rpm's at cruise are virtually the same.

Food for thought. This is what I've found over the summer comparing the two.

Thanks

 

[William Wehlage]

Very Good breakdown. I know I owned a 2014 Hemi quadcab 4x4 for 3 months and put around 4k on it logged under fuelly. It calculated 11.3 cents/mile. For the 2015 Ecodiesel, over 9000 miles, fuelly says 8.4 cents/mile. My Hemi adv on fuelly was 16.1 with best 19.0.

 

[MSP548]

Based on 50000 miles average over 5 years, that's 2 grand in fuel savings. And I gotta believe the ED will have a much higher resale value.

So which one do you prefer driving and why?

 

[AJ73942]

that's a really tough question. The HEMI has a sunroof and the air suspension and I like those options. The driving dynamics are identical as you'd expect, so deciding which truck to drive usually boils down to "am in in a hurry and want to hear the Hemi?" or "do I want to go for an easy cruise and listen to the diesel?" Often when I drive the EcoDiesel I will mute the audio just to listen to the diesel. I sometimes think I can hear a little bit of turbo during a shift at about 25mph, but it's very faint. It is nice to be able to drive the diesel several times and not worry about putting any fuel in it. The Hemi has been improving on mpg as it gets more miles on it. I regularly see it in the 20 - 21 indicated range, but it took almost 5000 miles to start seeing that regularly. The EcoDiesel has a few more miles, but it regularly returns high mpg numbers without any effort. I enjoy them both - it's nice to have the choice.

 

[BoostN]

that's a really tough question. The HEMI has a sunroof and the air suspension and I like those options. The driving dynamics are identical as you'd expect, so deciding which truck to drive usually boils down to "am in in a hurry and want to hear the Hemi?" or "do I want to go for an easy cruise and listen to the diesel?" Often when I drive the EcoDiesel I will mute the audio just to listen to the diesel. I sometimes think I can hear a little bit of turbo during a shift at about 25mph, but it's very faint. It is nice to be able to drive the diesel several times and not worry about putting any fuel in it. The Hemi has been improving on mpg as it gets more miles on it. I regularly see it in the 20 - 21 indicated range, but it took almost 5000 miles to start seeing that regularly. The EcoDiesel has a few more miles, but it regularly returns high mpg numbers without any effort. I enjoy them both - it's nice to have the choice.

Great review sir!

 

[TC Diesel]

I have the same trucks in the Hemi and ED My mileage is 28-36% better in the ED on conditions. 30K miles on the Hemi $4,391 @ $2.05PG ,The ED 30K miles $2,903 @ $2.20PG, When I priced the trucks the ED was $2,491 more then the Hemi., I notice the ED 2017 3.0VM took a big jump in cost its like $1G more then My 2015.