The 2025 Ford Maverick stays the only compact pickup truck on sale in North America—and it’s been a smash success because it launched, with Ford including a 3rd shift at its plant to fulfill the demand. That implies not each American pickup purchaser wants one thing the dimensions of Ford’s F-Collection, which stays the best-selling car line within the US after 4 many years.
Specifically, the Maverick made headlines in 2022 by providing a hybrid model that returned a 37 mpg mixed EPA score—towards 26 mpg for its non-hybrid counterpart. Now, in its fourth mannequin 12 months, Ford has added the function most requested by Maverick Hybrid patrons: all-wheel drive. And it’s rated on the identical 37 mpg, no much less.
Nevertheless, a storm cloud hovers over the brand new function and the brand new mannequin 12 months: All Mavericks are made in Mexico, which means they might be topic to an import tariff—although particulars of how or whether or not which may be utilized stay in flux on the time of writing.
The Maverick retains the intelligent design options that gained acclaim when it launched. Slots within the FlexBed settle for many sizes and varieties of lumber, whereas a half-open place for the tailgate lets DIYers carry flat boards. Homeowners who fancy themselves “makers” can wire their own LED bed lights—Ford built in a plug connector just for them.
Ford
Still, it’s the AWD Hybrid that’s the big news this year. And it turned out to require more work than simply swapping in a second driveshaft and a rear axle. Ford had to design an entirely new generation of its two-motor hybrid transaxle to make it work. For 2025, the previous third-generation system (known as HF45) has been replaced by a far more powerful fourth-gen system (HF55). WIRED got the details during almost an hour with Abby Grajek, the Maverick’s vehicle integration engineer—which in non-Detroit terms means she’s responsible for ensuring every performance target and user need specified for the vehicle is translated onto the assembly line and, hopefully, delivered properly.
Haul Much More Than Last Hybrid
The Maverick’s Ford C2 platform is fundamentally oriented toward front-wheel-drive powertrains, as found in the Ford Escape (North America) and Kuga (in Europe), the soon-to-be-discontinued Europe-only Focus, and the Lincoln Corsair among others. When AWD was needed for the truck, Ford stuck with a traditional mechanical system that takes the combined power output of the engine and hybrid system and splits it between two drive units: one for the front wheels, one for the rear. This stands in contrast to Toyota and other hybrid makers, who use a small e-motor on the rear axle to add incremental power on demand.
The AWD Maverick Hybrid had to offer the identical towing capability as its turbo 2.0-liter gasoline counterpart, which means a tow score of as much as 4,000 kilos if the “4K towing option” is specified. In sensible phrases, that meant that when towing, the overall output of the engine and hybrid system needed to be excessive sufficient to energy a 3,850-pound car, as much as 4 occupants and cargo, plus a 4,000-pound trailer—successfully hauling a second car, which means double the burden the earlier hybrid system needed to tow. The brand new transaxle’s inside cooling needed to be strong sufficient to tow that mixed weight up a steep grade for a lot of miles with out the electrical motors overheating.
