It won't get 30 miles on a gallon of gas, but the new, lighter Ford F-150 will offer substantially better fuel economy, according to official estimates released by the automaker Friday. Ford said the most fuel-efficient version of the 2015 F-150, featuring a 2.7-liter EcoBoost 4x2 engine, will get up to 26 mpg on the highway, 19 mpg in the city and 22 mpg in combined driving.
By comparison, the most fuel-efficient version the current F-150 is rated to deliver 23 mpg on the highway, 17 mpg in the city and 19 mpg combined. Overall, depending on the engine variation, the new F-150s will be advertised as being 5 to 29 percent more fuel-efficient than the models they are replacing. The new full-sized pickups from Ford are 700 pounds lighter than the F-Series models that are being replaced. Much of that weight reduction is due to Ford switching from heavier steel panels to lighter, high-strength aluminum panels. "The mileage improvement for the new F-150s is pretty darn significant," said Kelley Blue Book's Jack Nerad. "But keep in mind trucks being 20 percent or 25 percent more fuel efficient will not have as much impact on buyer attitudes with gas prices falling as much as they have recently."
IN-DEPTH
-- Phil LeBeau, CNBC