2021 Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel Nets Over 25 Percent Better Fuel Economy

Got your eye on Jeep’s Gladiator mid-size pickup, but hoping to minimize how often you stop to refuel? The new-for-2021 Gladiator EcoDiesel model, with the same 3.0-liter six-cylinder diesel offered in the Wrangler, is the oil-burning solution to your desires. Finalized fuel economy figures for the Gladiator EcoDiesel from the Environmental Protection Agency prove it’ll be the most efficient Gladiator you can buy, too. And by a large margin.

Per the EPA, the EcoDiesel pickup delivers 24 mpg combined—an improvement of more than 25 percent relative to the truck’s gas-powered V-6. That advantage holds for the Gladiator EcoDiesel’s city and highway fuel economy numbers, too, which come in at 22 mpg and 28 mpg, besting the gas-fed Gladiator’s 17/22 mpg. The stick-shift Gladiator is rated for 16 mpg city, 23 mpg highway, 1-mpg lower in the city cycle but 1-mpg higher on the highway than its automatic-transmission sibling; we’re comparing automatic-to-automatic, however, because it’s the only transmission Jeep offers with the diesel V-6.

Interestingly, should you want both diesel power and the hardcore off-road bits that come on the Gladiator Rubicon trim, you’ll see slightly lower fuel economy numbers. (This is also the case with the diesel Wrangler Rubicon.) The Rubicon’s burlier running gear and meatier tires work together to drag the Gladiator EcoDiesel’s EPA figures down by 1 mpg in the city and on the highway (to 21/27 mpg), yet the model posts the same 24-mpg combined figure as regular Gladiator EcoDiesels. All the more impressive? The Gladiator diesel is apparently so much heavier than its gas-fed siblings that Jeep’s available suspension lift kit has versions for each powertrain, with the EcoDiesel-specific option beefed up to work with the model’s extra mass.

The Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel, at least in non-Rubicon guise, even semi-knocks off the diesel-powered Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon twins to take the spot as the most efficient diesel-drinking mid-size pickup truck. While the two-wheel-drive GM diesel pickups remain tops in the segment (the Gladiator is only available with four-wheel drive) four-wheel-drive Colorado and Canyon diesel trucks post worse numbers than that of the Jeep. At 22 mpg city and 24 mpg combined, the Jeep beats the Chevy and GMC trucks’ 19 mpg city and 22 mpg combined ratings. (All three trucks score 28 mpg on the freeway.)

Oh, and the Jeep’s 260 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque out-muscles the GM trucks’ 186 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque. Shots fired! Anyway, the 2021 Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel is now available to order, with deliveries expected in the third quarter of this year. Final pricing is forthcoming, but the diesel engine is a several-thousand-dollar upgrade on the Wrangler, so expect the same on the Gladiator, which ought to place its price of entry around $40,000.

2021 Jeep Gladiator EPA-Estimated Fuel Economy

• • Gladiator EcoDiesel: 22/28/24 mpg (city/highway/combined)
  • Gladiator EcoDiesel Rubicon: 21/27/24 mpg (city/ highway/combined)
  • Gladiator Gas V-6 A/T: 17/22/19 mpg (city/ highway/combined)
  • Gladiator Gas V-6 M/T: 16/23/19 mpg (city/ highway/combined)

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