Top 10 Most Expensive Vehicles to Fill Up
Gas prices might not have hit the budget-busting $5/gallon yet, but drivers are already feeling the pinch. Consumer Reports has exposed a list of the top 10 most expensive vehicles to fill up. All prices are based on the average fuel price in the United States.
First on our top 10 is the Lincoln Navigator Ultimate. The massive V8 in this thing gets a combined 15mpg according to fueleconomy.gov. That gives it a range of around 504 miles on a tank. Filling up this SUV costs almost $110, which surprisingly is far from the costliest fill up on this list.
Next on our list is the Porsche Cayenne. This SUV has a 26.4 gallon tank. Tie that with the cost of premium fuel and you’ll quickly see why the Cayenne costs so much to fill up. The Cayenne has a fairly average fuel economy rating at 19 mpg combined, so its not a gas guzzler, but the main reason for the costly fill up is the size of the tank and the price of premium.
The big V8 in the Mercedes-Benz GL450 isn’t the most frugal around with a rating of 15 mpg combined. If you’re considering one of these big Benz’s you’ll be filling it up quite often. With a tank the same size as the Cayenne at number 9, and its desire for the good stuff (premium) you’re looking at the same price to fill up: $110.09. However it gets considerable lower driving range than the Cayenne with 581 miles of road to one tank.
The Audi Q7 Premium Plus suffers from the same fate as the other German vehicles on this list. Big gas tank, premium-only. It’s a bit more fuel friendly than the GL450 at 18 mpg combined, but all that means is that you’ll be filling the truck up a little less often. The Audi Q7 Premium Plus has a driving range of about 607 miles putting it right between the driving ranges of the GL450 and the Cayenne V6.
Part pickup and part SUV, to some the Chevrolet Avalanche is the perfect utility vehicle. However, this combination comes with a compromise. Its huge gas tank takes 31.5 gallons of fuel, which means you’re putting $123.48 in there. While it does cost a lot to fill up, you’ll be visiting the pumps a bit less than some of the other members of this list. With a range of 630 miles, it will out-run the Mercedes, Lincoln and Audi SUVs on one tank of fuel.
With the Ford Expedition, we’ve now entered the $130 a tank zone. This flex-fuel vehicle costs $131.32 to fill up, which is certainly a terrifying figure to see on a gas pump. Whats the Expeditions excuse? It doesn’t use diesel, or premium fuel; but has a massive gas tank. A capacity of 33.5 gallons helps put the Expedition at number 5 on this list.
Now that we’ve cleared the $130 a tank zone, we can safely look at some Heavy Duty pickup trucks. The first one on the list is the Ram 2500 Laramie. It takes $141.10 to fill this Ram up from empty. The reason for the costly fill-up? The tank at just 34 gallons is only half a gallon bigger than the expedition at #5, but 34 gallons of diesel fuel will make for one expensive bill at the pumps.
Number 3 on the list goes to the XLT version of the Ford F-150. This rugged pickup sports a V8, and costs $141.12 to fill up. Thanks to the larger size of the XLT model, it has a 36 gallon tank, which takes regular fuel. The big V8 is thirsty, getting just 13 mpg in combined driving, but since the F-150 is such a handy work truck, we doubt that’d scare many prospective buyers.
The F-150’s big brother takes the number two spot on our list, but has quite a few interesting differences. For starters, the price to fill up increases as the F-250 takes costlier diesel fuel. Second, it has a smaller tank than the smaller F-150, but thanks to the thrift nature of diesel engines, it has the longest driving range of all the pick-ups on this list. With a range of 805 miles, it could be quite a while before you’ll have to dump $145 worth of diesel gas in the tank.
Number one on our list is the F-250’s main competitor: the Silverado 2500HD. With it’s larger fuel tank, and diesel fuel requirement it’s a bit more expensive to fill up from empty than the Ford. In fact, filling up a Silverado 2500HD to full costs almost $40 more than filling up the Lincoln Navigator that debuted at number 10 on this list! That difference can practically fill up a small vehicle like the Scion iQ.
Sami has an unquenchable thirst for car knowledge and has been at AutoGuide for the past six years. He has a degree in journalism and media studies from the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and has won multiple journalism awards from the Automotive Journalist Association of Canada. Sami is also on the jury for the World Car Awards.
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Why not include a tanker trailer... This list is a 'What has the biggest tank' Why not the MPG king instead.
Well I am driving a Mitsubishi Triton 2.5 litre (diesel) VGT engine. Driving around urban areas gives me around 11.5 litres per 100-km whereas on highways/cruising it gives me around 9 to 9.5 litres per 100-km. Which I think it's pretty good considering the size and weight of the vehicle.