2018 Ram 1500: What's the Cost of a Fill-Up?

CARS.COM — Little doubt remains: The 2019 Ram 1500 rose above the fray of major pickup truck announcements at the Detroit auto show to haul home our Best in Show award, and there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the new model year. But the ’19 model builds on some already-impressive attributes of the 2018 pickup, with fuel economy and value right up there.

Related: 2019 Silverado, Ranger, Ram Debuts Top What’s New on PickupTrucks.com

For anyone considering a full-size pickup truck, they might also want to consider a V-6 engine instead of a V-8 to save money at the pump (and on the purchase price). The 2018 Ram 1500 is a good example:

• A two-wheel-drive Ram 1500 with a 3.6-liter V-6 and eight-speed automatic transmission gets an EPA combined city/highway estimate of 20 mpg and burns regular gas.
• A 2WD model with a 5.7-liter V-8 and eight-speed automatic gets a combined rating of 17 mpg, and Ram recommends using more expensive mid-grade gasoline. The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said the national average for mid-grade was $2.83 Thursday.
• For someone who drives 12,000 miles a year, the annual fuel cost would be about $1,536 for the V-6 model and $1,998 for the V-8 model (assuming mid-grade gas was used) based on current gas prices.

Motorists have paid more to fill their tanks for five straight weeks as the price of oil continues to rise, and analysts don’t see those trends changing any time soon. AAA said the national average for regular gas was $2.56 on Thursday, 2 cents higher than a week ago.

Pump prices rose in all but a handful of states the past week. Premium gas rose a penny this past week to a national average of $3.08, and diesel fuel also gained a penny to $2.95, according to AAA.

South Carolina, Alabama and Texas had the lowest average prices for regular on Thursday at $2.33. Hawaii had the most expensive gas at $3.38 for regular. California was next at $3.22 and Alaska third highest at $3.07.

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