2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid road test

The 2023 Ford Maverick is an all new compact pick-up, the smallest in Ford’s truck lineup and shares its platform with the Ford Bronco Sport and Escape SUV. The Maverick features a four-door, 5 passenger cabin with a 4.5 foot long cargo bed. Compact pickups with family seating have been a draw in many parts of the world for decades. It’s great to see Ford step forward with this offering.
The Maverick debuted for the 2022 model year and proved extremely popular with buyers. Ford needed to place a restriction on new orders for the 2022 model year due to manufacturing being unable to keep up with demand. The limited supply also helps to explain the starting price for the 2023 hybrid model is now $31,100 versus $27,750 for the 2022 model. The 2024 model year will reprice the Hybrid model to start at $33,100.
Powertrains offered for the Maverick vary between the standard 2.0 litre Ecoboost gasoline engine and a gas/electric hybrid model. The gasoline turbocharged engine produces 250HP and is paired with an eight-speed transmission and comes with All-Wheel-Drive. The hybrid option pairs a 2.5L normally aspirated gasoline engine combined with Ford’s first in-house created electric motor and a CVT transmission. The combined output of both engines produces 191HP. The Hybrid is only available with front wheel drive and is actually $500 less expensive than the “internal combustion only” option.
Our tester was a top of line Lariat Hybrid model, which included such niceties as 18 inch aluminum wheels, dual climate control, an 8-way power drivers seat, a 6.5 inch instrument cluster LCD screen, push button starting, a noise reducing windshield, power sliding rear vent window as well as heated steering and synthetic leather seating surfaces instead of cloth. The eye-catching Cyber Orange metallic paint on our test vehicle was an $800 add-on.
Visually, the Maverick probably identifies as “cute”. It lacks the typical hyper rugged pieces tacked on to larger trucks to augment the supposed added utility. The design likely signals that this vehicle is targeted at a more urban audience.
The cabin features a combination of hard wearing plastics, soft touch vinyl and rubber, a more purposeful approach and reflects the utility of the vehicle. The colour palate used inside, black with grey and blue inserts was quite pleasing to the eye.
Despite the lack of plush surfaces and traditional luxury appointments, the Maverick interior is comfortable and controls are intuitive to operate. It’s mostly due to the uniformity Ford has in terms of its interior layout across much of its lineup.
The Maverick features an 8-inch LCD touchscreen centred in the dashboard, which displays the majority of vehicle functions including the radio/media information as well as vehicle settings. The instrument cluster also contains the Lariat specific 6.5-inch LCD screen for vehicle information such as fuel economy, tire pressure and electric power contribution kilometres.
The Ford Maverick is really a treat to drive. The ride is quite car-like, no surprise given its shared platform. The booking of this test coincided with a road trip down to Montreal which is just over 500 kms each way. Given the almost constant element of highway driving, this should not have been the ideal situation for a hybrid powertrain to shine. However, the Maverick impressed with its quiet, comfortable ride and most surprisingly, exceptional fuel economy.
The ideal situation for hybrid powertrains is slogging through stop and go urban traffic where, there is less draw on the battery to maintain higher speeds and the constant braking keeps regenerating a higher percentage of the battery power used. Ford engineers have crafted a regeneration algorithm that manages to deliver battery assisted driving even under highway operation. In the end we were getting around 7L/100kms on the highway versus 6L/100kms in the city. Fuel economy figures in this ballpark are typically found in compact cars with micro sized engines not 5 passenger pickup trucks with this level of utility.
The Maverick’s cargo bed transforms from the standard 4.5 foot length to a supported 6 foot length with the rear tailgate folded down. Naturally, you can accommodate a sheet of drywall if the remaining two feet hang off the edge. Inside the cargo bay, Ford has included a number of novel dividers, tie down anchors and power outlets for increased functionality. The vehicle is rated for a payload capacity of 1,500 lbs and with the towing package, the Maverick Hybrid will tow up to 2,000 lbs.
The Ford Maverick Hybrid is an appealing package and has to be one of the standout values in the current inflated price car market, despite the escalating list price.
For a full list of options and package pricing please visit the Ford Canada website