Fuel Economy Update — More MPG, More DEF - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Fuel Economy Update — More MPG, More DEF - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

Two months' worth of fuel and three boxes of diesel exhaust fluid, all to keep our long-term 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel on the road.

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bankerdanny

Why is it that you always wait for the warning? DEF is cheaper when you get it from the pump at a truck stop. There must have been some point in the past 8-10k miles when you could have topped it off for far less than what you just spent.

ebeaudoin

Looking at the big picture of DEF usage is much clearer than looking at each instance of refilling. 1,050 MPG of the stuff isn't too bad.

On another note, looking at the lifetime MPG of this truck is pretty amazing. The worst fill MPG is 15.1; 15 years ago, 15.1 MPG would be considered a very respectable tank for highway unloaded driving in a Dodge Ram 1500. To be averaging 21.8 over 50,000 miles with quite a bit of towing is astounding. How far we've come!

nate001

So the cost of DEF is .003 cents a mile, which to me that cost is negligible/outweighed by with the great fuel mileage of this truck.
Good power & Excellent MPG, This truck continues to impress.

tlangness

bankerdanny said:

Why is it that you always wait for the warning? DEF is cheaper when you get it from the pump at a truck stop. There must have been some point in the past 8-10k miles when you could have topped it off for far less than what you just spent.

It's our way of making sure that the fill is accurate over the lifetime of the truck. The truck changes hands so often and may (or may not) be near a DEF pump, so we wait until we know an exact amount can be added. I did the one DEF pump fill on my road trip and the math based on that price (you can see that in the linked update above) so we know the price difference already. We're concerned with accuracy more than the difference of $5-10 here and there.

What we don't want, is someone thinking there's about 2-3 gallons left, over/underfilling it and being unable to report the correct numbers. Hope that makes sense.

allthingshonda

Have they ever changed the fuel filter? I don't remember any posts about that being done when it was serviced.

explorerx4

The fuel filter was probably changed when the fuel system got repaired.

allthingshonda

nate001 said:

So the cost of DEF is .003 cents a mile, which to me that cost is negligible/outweighed by with the great fuel mileage of this truck.
Good power & Excellent MPG, This truck continues to impress.

In addition to the DEF fills you also have to calculate the increased maintenance costs of the Ecodiesel. Routine oil changes are about $150.00, fuel filter replacements can add another $100.00 to the service and the Ecodiesel option is about $4,000.00 more than a Hemi. Add all of that to the slightly higher costs of diesel fuel and the amount of money you save on fuel economy over a Hemi powered Ram is not much if any over the life of the truck.

nate001

allthingshonda said:

nate001 said:

So the cost of DEF is .003 cents a mile, which to me that cost is negligible/outweighed by with the great fuel mileage of this truck.
Good power & Excellent MPG, This truck continues to impress.

In addition to the DEF fills you also have to calculate the increased maintenance costs of the Ecodiesel. Routine oil changes are about $150.00, fuel filter replacements can add another $100.00 to the service and the Ecodiesel option is about $4,000.00 more than a Hemi. Add all of that to the slightly higher costs of diesel fuel and the amount of money you save on fuel economy over a Hemi powered Ram is not much if any over the life of the truck.

They just paid $145 to service the Jeep Renegade. so the cost is not that much more even having to replace the extra filters. I would probably be servicing it myself anyway. Its also going to hold its value better then a Hemi and that would help recoup the higher initial cost.
The driving dynamics (MPG, Torque, Fuel Range) of diesel powered vehicles make the extra costs worth the benefits to me.

g35buf

Owning a 2015 EcoD, I can't believe Edmunds is buying boxes of DEF for $4.40 a gallon at the store...As bankerdanny says, just drive to a truck stop (Flying J, etc.) and pull up to the DEF pump. Far easier and much less (about $2.70 a gallon here in Western NY for DEF). I live in suburbia but a place with a DEF pump is always within 10 miles. I'm getting just about 10k miles on a full DEF tank...and nearly mirroring Edmunds mileage (22.3 mpg overall but less towing for me).

rod_r

The EcoDiesel doesn't necessarily make economic sense. I bought a 2016 4wd Laramie Longhorn and love that I have to fill up about half as often as I did in my 2013 Ram 1500 Hemi. I also enjoy the instant roll-on torque of the ED. The 22mpg overall is nice as well. The downside is I have already gotten a CEL (it went away after about 100 miles) for a low voltage to the MAP sensor. I haven't taken it back to the dealer yet and it continues to run just fine. The day after Christmas we dove it to Dallas to see family and on the way home in a driving rainstorm the infotainment system kept giving me tornado warnings. Then it told me there as a tornado detected in my location. I was focused on the road due to the intense rain but my son was looking outside and finally looked up. We were under a giant funnel cloud. I looked up briefly to see it and proceeded to get the hell out of dodge. I assume the warnings were from Sirius Travelink. Regardless I was impressed. I will renew the Travelink subscription when the trial runs out. Eleven people were killed including 5 in a single vehicle that was blown off of the same elevated highway that we were on when we saw the funnel cloud.

darthbimmer

rod_r said:

We were under a giant funnel cloud. I looked up briefly to see it and proceeded to get the hell out of dodge.

I think you mean "proceeded to get the Dodge out of hell." Glad you're okay!

txtdinerd

I like the idea of a half ton diesel pickup that has reasonably higher fuel economy than a comparable gasoline model. However, I am not certain that the dependability of Ram trucks is good enough to trust for the long term. They may do well for the sake of the long term evaluation process and while under warranty, but once out how well do they stay going without major repair costs?

As for using DEF, as long as it does not have to be filled every time the diesel tank needs filled, I am good. Not every location where diesel fuel is sold has a DEF dispenser in the fueling island areas. Needing to carry a jug of DEF around makes sense for emergencies or just in case scenarios, but constant filling would be a drag.