Plug-in hybrid pickups, the Ford Ranger, the BYD Shark, and the GWM Cannon Alpha, were pitted against three diesel-powered trucks in a 2,500-mile test in Australia.
The three plug-in hybrid pickups were put through their paces, taking on winding roads and sandy dunes.
To add a little more fun to the test, the trio of hybrids was joined by three diesel-powered pickups to see how they compared.
And here’s how it went down.
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The Ford, BYD, and GWM plug-in hybrid pickups were pushed to the limit
When most of us think ‘pickup’ we think diesel, right? But there are actually several big plug-in hybrid pickups that are leaving motorists impressed.
Amongst them is the Chinese-made BYD Shark, which was launched last year and comes with a brand-new plug-in hybrid powertrain called DMO (dual-mode off-road).
To see how the new batch of plug-in hybrid pickups fared against the traditional diesel versions, the team behind the 4WD 24/7 YouTube channel put them to the test.
They took a Ford Ranger, a BYD Shark, and a GWM Cannon Alpha into the Aussie outback to see how they got on.
To make things a little more difficult, they also set themselves the challenge of taking it in turns to tow a 5,500-pound trailer.
The BYD Shark took the first turn of hauling the trailer, and after driving for a couple of hours, was in need of refueling.
With the added weight of the trailer, the Shark managed a little over nine miles to the gallon and had to be topped up at 108 miles.
The Ford Ranger did a little better, but it was bad news for the GWM Cannon Alpha, which performed the worst of the three.
As you’d expect, the trio of plug-in hybrid pickups had better miles per gallon when they weren’t lugging the trailer.
Traveling along the dirt roads of the Aussie outback, the hybrids averaged 23 miles per gallon.
But heading off-road and tackling the sand dunes dropped this down to around 11 miles per gallon.
How did the diesel pickups do?
As you might have suspected, the diesel-powered pickups did a little better.
When it came to towing the trailer, they averaged between 25mpg and 14mpg.
Similarly, while off-roading, they had a slightly higher miles per gallon, hitting between 13.8 and 16.8mpg.
So it seems that while there are plenty of benefits to a plug-in hybrid, when it comes to miles per gallon, diesel still comes out on top.
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