Fuel efficiency doesn’t usually spring to mind when the subject of a conversation is trucks. However, the 2022 Ford Maverick is no ordinary pickup as it comes as standard with a hybrid powertrain. When the compact utilitarian vehicle was unveiled earlier this year, the Blue Oval advertised an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating of 40 miles per gallon in the city.
As it turns out, the Maverick Hybrid is even more efficient than previously believed as it’s been officially rated at 42 mpg in the city. That’s mighty impressive for what still remains a veritable pickup truck, even though you (sadly) can’t have the hybrid powertrain with all-wheel drive. According to the EPA, the Hyundai Santa Cruz competitor returns 33 mpg on the highway, resulting in a fuel economy rating of 37 mpg in the combined cycle.
With the battery charged and the gasoline tank fully loaded, the 2022 Maverick with the hybrid setup can travel for more than 500 miles (805 km) before you have to refuel it. Best of all, the capabilities we usually associate with trucks combined with the efficiency of a small gasoline car come at a fair price, with Ford setting a starting price of just under $20,000.
For your money’s worth, you’ll be getting an electrified compact truck motivated by a naturally aspirated, four-cylinder 2.5-liter gasoline engine that runs on the Atkinson cycle and works together with an electric motor. The two deliver a combined output of 191 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of torque, enough for a payload of 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms).
While customer deliveries of the Maverick equipped with the optional gas-only EcoBoost engine started in September, you’ll have to wait until January next year to get behind the wheels of the hybrid model. Before that happens, dealers will have the more fuel-efficient truck on display from December 2021. Interestingly, Ford projects it will sell the entire production run for the 2022 model year by early next month, so better act fast if you want one.
Source: Ford
