Ford created a surprise hit when it introduced the Maverick in 2021. This compact pickup truck, built on architecture shared With the Escape and Bronco Sport crossover SUVs, Ford offered truck capability in a fuel-efficient, sensibly sized package. Now, Ford has introduced updates for the 2025 model year that make the Maverick even more appealing.
First of all, customers can finally order the Maverick with the fuel-efficient hybrid engine and all-wheel drive. Previously, Ford limited the hybrid powertrain to front-wheel drive models. This maximized fuel efficiency, resulting in excellent EPA estimates of 42 miles per gallon in the city, 33 on the highway, and 37 combined. But that decision limited the model's appeal: Buyers who wanted all-weather capability or needed to tow more than the hybrid's maximum 1,500 pounds had to upgrade to the 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, rated with 22 mpg in the city, 29 on the highway, and 25 combined with all-wheel drive.
“Hybrid all-wheel drive was by far the biggest request from customers,” Dawn McKenzie, Ford Truck communications manager, told WIRED via email. McKenzie explained that the hybrid model was limited to front-wheel drive during its initial rollout to maximize affordability. Ford even promised a base price of $19,995 when the Maverick was introduced for the 2022 model year, although the least expensive Maverick for 2024 starts at $23,920with the hybrid engine currently a $1,500 option. Ford sold more than 94,000 Mavericks in 2023, more than half of which were hybrids.
PHOTOGRAPHY: FORD PRESS
For 2025, the Ford Maverick comes in a kaleidoscope of flavors. The base Maverick is a front-wheel-drive hybrid, rated at up to 42 mpg. Adding optional all-wheel drive is expected to drop fuel economy slightly, to a still-respectable 40 mpg in the city. (Official EPA ratings have not yet been released.) An optional towing package, now available on hybrid Mavericks, allows for trailers up to 4,000 pounds. If the hybrid’s 191 horsepower and 155 foot-pounds of torque aren’t enough, the 238-horsepower, 275 foot-pound EcoBoost non-hybrid turbocharged four-cylinder is still available on all models.
Hybrid Pickups Pick Up
Hybrid pickup trucks are somewhat on the rise. Ford introduced the hybrid F-150 PowerBoost in the 2021 model year. Toyota introduced a optional hybrid powertrain to the full-size Tundra pickup truck for 2022, and later this year Ram a plug-in hybrid to its light truck. (General Motors does not currently offer a hybrid version of the Chevy Silverado or GMC Sierra, although rumors indicate (The automaker is busy bringing a plug-in variant to market.)
By hybridizing their pickup trucks, automakers appear to be diversifying their bets. Overall, electric vehicle sales are still climbing in the USbut the once-sky-high year-over-year increases are starting to level off. In the pickup truck world, EVs are still a small niche. Ford is excited to point out that the all-electric F-150 Lightning is the best-selling full-size electric pickup truck in the United States, with 2023 sales up 55 percent from 2022. But the Lightning is vastly overshadowed by its own internal combustion-engined brethren: Ford sold more than 750,000 F-Series pickup trucks in 2023but only just over 3 percent of that was fully electric.
There are a few factors at play. Fully electric, full-size trucks are dramatically more expensive than their internal combustion engines. The 2024 F-150 Lightning begins for nearly $63,000, compared to $37,000 for a gas-powered model; the base model Chevy Silverado EV starts at around $75,000The . Rivian R1T starts at $70,000And TeslaThe Promised $60,000 Cybertruck Has just cancelledmeaning you can't buy one for less than $100,000 now.