RAM 3500 Diesel Costs 6x More Per Mile Than Silverado EV
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- Robert Wallace, a certified energy manager, calculated his 2023 RAM 3500 diesel costs $0.35 per mile at 17 MPG with diesel averaging $6.00 per gallon
- Wallace's 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV delivers 2+ miles per kWh from its 170 kWh battery, costing 5.5 cents per mile at his $0.11/kWh home charging rate
- The per-mile gap represents a 600%+ cost reduction on the EV, and stretches to 1,400% when compared to a Tesla Model 3's 2.5 cents per mile
- Wallace drives 48,000 miles annually, a workload that would translate to roughly $8,400 in yearly fuel savings if logged entirely in the Silverado EV
- Wallace clarified in comments he kept the RAM 3500 for heavy towing but drives the Silverado EV more than 80% of the time, and was also towing an all-electric Polaris Ranger Kinetic UTV in the photo
- Diesel prices have climbed past $6.00 per gallon nationally and approach $8 in parts of California, sharpening the math for rural pickup owners with long commutes or hauling jobs
Why it matters: High-mileage rural drivers face a structural cost disadvantage with diesel pickups, and Wallace's $8,400 annual savings reframes the EV-vs-ICE debate as pure dollars-and-cents economics. At 48,000 miles per year, his Silverado EV costs about one-sixth per mile ($0.055 vs $0.35) than his RAM 3500 diesel — recovering the EV price premium in a fraction of the truck's working life.
