How Many Miles Per Gallon Does an RV Get?

How Many Miles Per Gallon Does an RV Get

After you’ve gotten yourself an RV, it’s time to fill it with gas and head out on a trip. Inexperienced RVers will quickly find out that it’s not cheap keeping the vehicle full of diesel or gas all the time.

RVs are heavy power-hungry vehicles, so it’s no wonder they require a lot of fuel to keep running. Although the exact mileages vary between the classes of RVs, across the board, RVs have poor mileage. Therefore, without a doubt, running an RV is not cheap.

Let’s dive into how much mileage RVs get from their fuel. By the end of it all, you should be well-versed in how far you can go per gallon of fuel in your RV.

What Are The Fuel Costs to Keep Your RV Running?

In short, it depends on current gas prices. What’s more important here is to understand how much mileage you’re getting from your RV. There are a few classes of motorhomes out there. Say, for example, if you have a Class A motorhome, you’re looking at about 15 miles to the gallon. For larger RVs, you’ll be doing 4 or 6 miles to the gallon. These motor vehicles are extremely power-hungry and keeping a large one running can quickly drive up costs.

If you’ve got a truck with a towable RV, you will see better overall mileage. However, this is completely dependent on the truck you own and the fuel efficiency of the truck. Moreover, due to the added weight and increase in drag, your truck’s overall efficiency will drop by a large margin.

There’s no way around admitting the fact that driving around a large RV is costly.

Other factors which affect the cost of driving an RV include:

  • Speed – The speed at which you drive down the road affects your fuel efficiency. At higher speeds, you’ll be burning through more fuel.
  • Type – The type of RV you drive around plays a large role in determining the mileage and therefore cost of driving an RV.
  • Terrain – The quality of the road and terrain can improve or ruin your RVs overall mileage.
  • Size – The size of your RV is vital in determining how much fuel you consume lugging around such a large vehicle.

How Many Miles Per Gallon Does A Standard RV Get?

Given the variations and types of RVs available, it’s hard to point out a single number when it comes to the mileage of an RV. Therefore, we’re going to group them up into their respective classes and look at the average mileage by class. This should offer a rough estimate of the fuel costs to keep your RV running.

Class A RVs

Class A RVs are the most luxurious variants. These come with heavy equipment, furniture, and gadgets. Moreover, they’re often very large as well. In addition to the fancy gadgetry, these RVs come with many premium features and structural additions that add a large amount of weight to the RV. Overall, you won’t get far per gallon when it comes to a Class A RV. This class of RVs range from 6 to 8 miles in terms of mileage. Some of the most luxurious variants go for as little as 4 miles to the gallon.

Overall, these luxurious RVs are expensive to keep running.

Class B RVs

Class B RVs are the most compact and well-designed RVs you can get. And so, it’s a given that they offer the best RV mileage. If you’re towing around a Class B RV, you can expect to get 15 to 18 miles to the gallon. If you have a small Class B, you might even be able to 18 to 25 miles to the gallon. The built quality and size of the RV are the main factors here.

Class C RVs

Class C RVs are a step down from Class A RVs in terms of luxury. However, due to fewer gadgets on board and fewer amenities, Class C RVs tend to be less heavy than Class A ones. Therefore, with a Class C RV, you can expect anywhere between 10 and 13 miles to the gallon. Although not much, it’s still a whole lot better than Class A RVs.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, RVs are power hungry vehicles. Therefore, to keep one running on the road, you’ll need a lot of fuel. With Class B RVs being the smallest and most compact variants, they offer the best mileage. However, if you want to go overboard with the luxury it’s worth investing in a Class A RV – given that you can afford the running costs. However, if you want to strike a good balance between mileage and luxury, you can’t go wrong with a Class C RV.