Poor MPG on 2021 Built to Serve!

[MC21ram]

Hey guys, new to Ram trucks and this group. I've had my truck for a few months now and I am very disappointed with the MPG. I am averaging about 12-13MPG. Most of my driving is local, suburban city, so I don't expect the MPG to be that high but when it was advertised as 17/22 MPG, I am really disappointed. I drive normally, try to hit the ECO as much as I can, but Is this consistent with others? Is there ANYTHING that I can do to improve this?

 

[IvoryHemi]

Yes that’s not unusual.

The 17 mpg is a “combined” figure. It’s rated at 15/21 city/hwy

 

[SD Rebel]

Correct, the window sticker should be 15/17/22 for city/combined/highway. However that rating is a blanket rating FCA used from the EPA. Essentially, the EPA tested a street tired 3.21 axled truck. FCA then has the ability to adjust the mpg ratings on various trims if it wants, but they haven't. FCA was already spending literally billions in carbon credits from Tesla to keep their CAFE numbers within limit. It's honestly borderline fraud.

So in other words, if you have 3.92 axle and larger than 18" street tires, your mpg should drop quite a bit from the 15/17/22 EPA rating. I'm averaging 13.5 mpg in mixed driving with my Rebel, which has 3.92 axle and 33" tires. The window sticker also stated 15/17/22, lol, which was laughable to begin with on this type of off-road packaged truck.

 

[SacRebel]

I'm getting 13.2 mpg after 18K miles..similar driving pattern.

 

[Ram Ranch]

13.5 MPG in my 2020 Built To Serve. Same local suburban city

 

[Jason605]

Mixed driving max speed 59mph.

 

[Amerinamese]

I was averaging around 16 mpg the first few months. Since passing 5000 miles and adding a tonneau cover I'm up over 17.5 mpg. Since then I haven't had a tank under 17 mpg hand calculated. Here's a picture of my current tank. By far the best I've done so far.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[TNRamGuy]

Recent trip, I did 400 miles or so on I-81 driving North through VA. Cruise set at 77. No stops. Slowed down to 50 for about 5 minutes just south of Roanoke. And down to 15 for a couple minutes around Rockbridge. Mpg was 21.1 calculated and 21.3 on the evic.

Forgive me, my wife was with me, feel like I need to apologize for driving like a moron if my mpg is over 13

 

[scottmoyer]

I'm getting similar mileage on my Rebel, but I disagree with the thought that getting better mileage is laughable. The technology is there, but the manufacturers and government don't want us to do better. From the gov't perspective, if all of our vehicles got better mileage, they would lose out on the per gallon gas tax. I find it laughable that my '87 Camaro was rated at 16/25 and the new Camaros are also rated at 16/25, but 35 years later. My 2006 Silverado Z71 got 14.5mpg. It had a leveled front end, off road tires, 4 speed trans, 3.45 gears and was a full steel bodied truck. The 2018 F150 I had weighed less than my Silverado, had many aluminum panels, had the 10 speed trans, 3.55 gears and auto start/stop. All of this was supposed to provide better mileage, but I got 14.5mpg. So 12 years later and better tech, less weight and I got the same mileage?

Years ago I spoke to a miner from West Virginia. He said they used Hummers to pull bins out of the mines. All of the Hummers were getting 9mpg. They received a new one and it was getting close to 30mpg. As a GM and Ford service center, they dug into the engine to see what was different. They found a sealed black box under the hood with no labels or numbers. They called GM to ask what it was as that was the only thing different on their fleet of Hummers. Within days, GM showed up onsite, asked to see the Hummer, and removed the box. GM said they weren't supposed to get that truck. That Hummer got 9mpg like the rest after that.

The tech is there, but there are powers greater than us keeping the mileage at lower levels. What the reason is, is unknown to me, but with cell phone tech, TVs, Internet/network bandwidth and all the tech IN our vehicles, you really believe they can't get better mileage out of them?

 

[dwalme]

I like a good conspiracy theory.

Knowing how engines operate I'm super curious about the black box and what it could do to raise fuel economy so much.

Perhaps it contains dancing unicorns?

 

[Jako]

Personal experience is the horsepower/performance in my vehicles are up and so is the mpg. Happy about that, not so much about the sophistication/complication brought on by the technology.

 

[SCasey89]

I get between 14 and 14.5 in the city and around 18 on the highway in my 2020 BTS with the 3.92. You have to remember that the BTS also has the increased ride height, and sits an inch higher than a normal Ram.

As others have said, the mpg numbers on the window sticker should be taken with a grain of salt. They aren’t specific to the truck you bought with all of the options you have.

 

[BigD]

It all depends on how u drive. If u slam on the gas & then bob & weave & slam on the brakes at the next stoplight your gas milage will suffer. Personally I coast to the next light if it's red. Iij usually get 100,000 miles out of a single pair of brake pads !! I also get the 17/22 mpg that the sticker says. Have even got over 24 mpg when going 55 mph on a straight road !!

 

[TravisJ]

My BTS pretty much gets 17mpg with majority highway driving and mine is pretty loaded with all the mpg killing options. 13ish in the city don’t sound too bad.

 

[Rebelguy2020]

One thing that has to be taken account for less than average mpg is the fact that if you put regular gasoline @ 87 octane, it may have up to 10% ethanol and that will hurt your mpg, however premium fuel costs more and is not worth the extra cost, unless you are working your truck by pulling a heavy trailer.
I did a real world test, I used my Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk with the 2L I4 Turbo, I drove from Northern Ontario Canada to Central Florida using regular gas @ 87 octane, then I drove all the way back up north on Premium gas, the average was about $0.50 cents more/gallon. The trip total was 4700 miles.
I kept all the receipts and did the hand calculation, I achieved the same mpg, both directions (but there was a strong head wind on the two day trip going north) it also cost me $80 more in fuel using the Premium. That’s the last time I used premium. The Jeep calls for Premium but does accept regular gas.
I had done some trips on both fuels with my 2011 Ram but never notice a difference in performance or fuel consumption. The Hemi 5.7L calls for mid grade @89 octane but also accepts regular.

 

[Thekidcasual]

I’m at 11.8 on my BTS with a level and 35s* one a good day I get 12.5. Southern California driving

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

It all depends on how u drive. If u slam on the gas & then bob & weave & slam on the brakes at the next stoplight your gas milage will suffer. Personally I coast to the next light if it's red. Iij usually get 100,000 miles out of a single pair of brake pads !! I also get the 17/22 mpg that the sticker says. Have even got over 24 mpg when going 55 mph on a straight road !!

So you're that guy that is passing everyone off!

 

[TractorM]

I have the 3.92 gears and eTorque on my Built-To-Serve. My first fill up after getting the truck, I got 16.8MPG. I accelerate slowly moderately and keep it under 2k RPM. Start/Stop is awesome.

 

[HeavyRotation]

I'm getting similar mileage on my Rebel, but I disagree with the thought that getting better mileage is laughable. The technology is there, but the manufacturers and government don't want us to do better. From the gov't perspective, if all of our vehicles got better mileage, they would lose out on the per gallon gas tax. I find it laughable that my '87 Camaro was rated at 16/25 and the new Camaros are also rated at 16/25, but 35 years later. My 2006 Silverado Z71 got 14.5mpg. It had a leveled front end, off road tires, 4 speed trans, 3.45 gears and was a full steel bodied truck. The 2018 F150 I had weighed less than my Silverado, had many aluminum panels, had the 10 speed trans, 3.55 gears and auto start/stop. All of this was supposed to provide better mileage, but I got 14.5mpg. So 12 years later and better tech, less weight and I got the same mileage?

Years ago I spoke to a miner from West Virginia. He said they used Hummers to pull bins out of the mines. All of the Hummers were getting 9mpg. They received a new one and it was getting close to 30mpg. As a GM and Ford service center, they dug into the engine to see what was different. They found a sealed black box under the hood with no labels or numbers. They called GM to ask what it was as that was the only thing different on their fleet of Hummers. Within days, GM showed up onsite, asked to see the Hummer, and removed the box. GM said they weren't supposed to get that truck. That Hummer got 9mpg like the rest after that.

The tech is there, but there are powers greater than us keeping the mileage at lower levels. What the reason is, is unknown to me, but with cell phone tech, TVs, Internet/network bandwidth and all the tech IN our vehicles, you really believe they can't get better mileage out of them?

Priceless.

 

[HeavyRotation]

One thing that has to be taken account for less than average mpg is the fact that if you put regular gasoline @ 87 octane, it may have up to 10% ethanol and that will hurt your mpg, however premium fuel costs more and is not worth the extra cost, unless you are working your truck by pulling a heavy trailer.
I did a real world test, I used my Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk with the 2L I4 Turbo, I drove from Northern Ontario Canada to Central Florida using regular gas @ 87 octane, then I drove all the way back up north on Premium gas, the average was about $0.50 cents more/gallon. The trip total was 4700 miles.
I kept all the receipts and did the hand calculation, I achieved the same mpg, both directions (but there was a strong head wind on the two day trip going north) it also cost me $80 more in fuel using the Premium. That’s the last time I used premium. The Jeep calls for Premium but does accept regular gas.
I had done some trips on both fuels with my 2011 Ram but never notice a difference in performance or fuel consumption. The Hemi 5.7L calls for mid grade @89 octane but also accepts regular.

Not a valid test, south is downhill, north is uphill.