Remember when pickup trucks were manly? Bare, utilitarian buckboards with manual controls and little else? Hell, a rear bumper was optional! In recent years, all that has changed. Today, it seems, pickups are like a home office, available with innumerable amenities that wouldn’t be out of place in a Cadillac. And if the wussification of trucks isn’t enough, we now have hybrid versions. When will the madness end?

That’s right – Chevrolet has a bi-fuel option in its Silverado 2500  HD series, and GMC has the same in its Sierra 2500 HD. According to Autoblog, it’ll cost you a fine 11 grand.

All kidding aside, bi-fuel gives the General Motors twins the ability to run on gasoline or compressed natural gas (CNG). What’s the advantage of CNG? It’s much cheaper, costing about half the price of gasoline. What’s the downside? Real-world miles per gallon is quite poor, so the pickups would need more fuel – more CNG – to operate. Another downside specific to the pickup twins is that the CNG tank takes up some of the bed’s real estate.

GM claims that a full tank of gas and CNG will give the pickups a cruising range of 650 miles, which is entirely quantifiable. The claim that the bi-fuel option can save from $5-10,000 over the course of three years reminds me of a hybrid – will the fuel savings over time make up for the price premium?

Like anything else, it all depends on the needs of the consumer. In the case of GM, they are betting on it.