The automotive world isn’t just about horsepower, speed, or straight-line acceleration. In various applications, other elements also matter, such as towing capacity and mileage. Pickup truck owners are somehow particular about these factors. With that in mind, the Ram 2500 Cummins and Ford F-150 Hybrid are quite the workhorses. YouTube channel The Fast Lane Truck arranged for these two trucks to tow a heavy trailer and find out which returns the better mpg.

Ram 2500 Cummins Vs Ford F-150 Hybrid

The Fast Lane Truck’s Andre Smirnov and Kent Sundling – aka Mr. Truck -- brought a Ram 2500 heavy-duty truck with a 6.7-liter Cummins turbo diesel engine. This HD truck is quite powerful in terms of torque – around 850 lb-ft and 370 hp of max output. When properly equipped, a Ram 2500 diesel Cummins can tow up to 19,980 lbs, making it quite a strong puller. It comes with an estimated rating of 12 city/18 highway/15 combined mpg on four-wheel drive mode.

RELATED: These Are Some Of The Best Trucks You Can Buy For Towing

The duo also brought a Ford F-150 Hybrid to the scene, featuring a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 and an electric motor. This truck offers more horsepower (at 430 hp) than its rival but has less torque at just 570 lb-ft. It’s quite smaller than the Ram 2500 but can tow up to 12,700 lbs when properly equipped. Nevertheless, the F-150 Hybrid has much greater mileage than Ram 2500 at 25 city/26 highway/25 combined mpg.

A Real-World MPG Test While Towing

Camp Trailer towed on road
Via The Fast Lane Truck on YouTube

On paper, the Ford F-150 Hybrid is more fuel efficient than the Ram 2500 Cummins. But things should change when they are towing a camping trailer weighing 7,000 lbs. Andre and Kent get the Ram 2500 Cummins and the F-150 Hybrid filled up with fuel, pull the camp trailer for around 66 miles, and measure their real-world mpg.

Ram 2500 Cummins Wins MPG Battle

Ram 2500 Cummins towing a camp trailer
Via The Fast Lane Truck on YouTube

The Ford F-150 Hybrid went first. As Andre and Kent calculated, the half-ton hybrid consumed 8.46 gallons of gasoline during the 66-mile drive. This represented a real-world mileage of around 7.8 mpg.

Meanwhile, the Ram 2500 Cummins consumed just around 6 gallons of diesel during the drive. This means a mileage of around 10.9 mpg – which is significantly better than that of the F-150 Hybrid. While diesel was more expensive, the difference in mileage meant savings of around $5 for the Ram 2500.

RELATED: Not Just A Pretty Face: The Ford F-150 Lightning Can Tow

During the F-150 Hybrid drive, Andre and Kent noticed that the trailer was having some movement. There was much less during the Ram 2500 drive, which was more stable and more solid.

Source: The Fast Lane Truck on YouTube