A month ago, there were no small trucks available for sale in the U.S. There will soon be two. The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is the first, set to go on sale this summer. The EPA has now tested Hyundai’s little truck, which will immediately become one of the most fuel-efficient trucks on the road.
Hyundai will sell the 2022 Santa Cruz with a choice of two engines. The base model’s 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine achieves an EPA rating of 21 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway with the truck’s standard front-wheel drive (FWD) layout. That equals 23 mpg combined. Curiously, it scores 21 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway in all-wheel drive (AWD) form for a 22 mpg combined score. Normally, the added traction of an AWD system robs a vehicle of some fuel economy.
The optional 2.5-liter turbocharged engine comes only with the AWD powertrain. It scores an EPA rating of 19 mpg in city driving and the same 27 mpg on the highway. It earns a combined rating of 22 mph.
Those numbers don’t quite make it the most fuel-efficient truck on the road. The Ford F-150 hybrid option is rated for 24 mpg combined.
It may also not be the most fuel-efficient small truck for long. Tomorrow, Ford will unveil its own compact pickup, the Maverick. A teaser image released last week appears to show a hybrid badge on the Maverick, meaning that at least one available model will probably best the Santa Cruz’s mileage rating.
It’s hard to evaluate the value proposition behind the Santa Cruz without knowing the truck’s price. We’ll bring that information as soon as Hyundai reveals it.
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