The 2025 Ford Maverick Shows That Hybrid Pickup Trucks Are Going Mainstream

Ford created a astonishment smash deed erstwhile it introduced the Maverick successful 2021. This compact pickup, built connected architecture shared with the Escape and Bronco Sport crossover SUVs, offered motortruck capableness successful a fuel-efficient, sensibly sized package. Now, Ford has introduced updates for the 2025 exemplary twelvemonth that marque the Maverick adjacent much appealing.

First and foremost: Customers volition yet beryllium capable to bid the Maverick with the thrifty hybrid engine and all-wheel drive. Previously, Ford constricted the hybrid powertrain to front-wheel-drive models. This maximized substance efficiency, earning stellar EPA estimates of 42 metropolis miles per gallon, 33 highway, and 37 combined. But this determination constricted the model’s appeal: Buyers who wanted all-weather capableness oregon needed to tow much than the hybrid’s 1,500-pound maximum had to upgrade to the 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, rated astatine 22 metropolis mpg, 29 highway, and 25 combined erstwhile paired with all-wheel drive.

“Hybrid all-wheel thrust was by acold the apical petition from customers,” Dawn McKenzie, Ford Truck communications manager, told WIRED via email. McKenzie explained that successful the archetypal rollout, the hybrid exemplary was constricted to front-wheel thrust to maximize affordability—indeed, Ford promised a base terms of $19,995 erstwhile the Maverick was introduced for the 2022 exemplary year, though for 2024 the cheapest Maverick starts astatine $23,920, with the hybrid motor presently a $1,500 option. Ford sold more than 94,000 Mavericks successful 2023, implicit fractional of which were hybrids.

For 2025, the Ford Maverick comes successful a kaleidoscope of flavors. The basal exemplary Maverick is simply a front-wheel-drive hybrid, rated astatine up to 42 mpg. Adding optional all-wheel thrust is expected to driblet the substance system slightly, to a still-respectable 40 metropolis mpg. (Official EPA ratings person not yet been released.) An optional towing package, present disposable connected hybrid Mavericks, allows trailers up to 4,000 pounds. If the hybrid’s 191 horsepower and 155 foot-pounds of torque aren’t enough, the 238-hp, 275-foot-pound EcoBoost non-hybrid turbo four-cylinder is inactive disposable connected each models.

Hybrid Pickups Pick Up

Hybrid pickup trucks are benignant of having a moment. Ford introduced the hybrid F-150 PowerBoost successful the 2021 exemplary year. Toyota introduced an optional hybrid drivetrain to the full-size Tundra pickup motortruck for 2022, and aboriginal this twelvemonth Ram volition adhd a plug-in-hybrid to its light-duty truck. (General Motors does not presently connection a hybrid mentation of the Chevy Silverado oregon GMC Sierra, though rumors indicate the automaker is scrambling to adhd a plug-in variant.)

By hybridizing their pickup trucks, automakers look to beryllium spreading their bets. Overall, electrical conveyance income are still climbing successful the US, but once-skyrocketing year-over-year increases are starting to level out. In the pickup motortruck world, EVs are inactive a tiny niche. Ford is thrilled to constituent retired that the all-electric F-150 Lightning is the best-selling full-size electrical pickup truck successful the United States, with 2023 income up 55 percent compared to 2022. But the Lightning is vastly overshadowed by its ain interior combustion siblings: Ford sold more than 750,000 F-series pickup trucks successful 2023, but lone somewhat much than 3 percent of them were all-electric.

A fewer factors are astatine play. All-electric, full-size trucks are drastically much costly than their interior combustion counterparts. The 2024 F-150 Lightning starts astatine astir $63,000, compared to $37,000 for a gasoline-burning model; the base-model Chevy Silverado EV starts astatine astir $75,000. The Rivian R1T starts astatine $70,000, and Tesla's promised $60,000 Cybertruck has just been canceled, meaning you present can't bargain 1 for overmuch little than $100,000.