The Ford Maverick Hybrid makes a strong case against buying more truck

Americans love a big ole, gas-hungry truck.

The full-size Ford F-150 has been America's bestselling conveyance for much than 40 years. Its closest rivals, the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500, are besides top-sellers successful the US — and arsenic gargantuan.

Those trucks are moving headfirst into the halfway rumor facing American consumers: gas prices are ace high.

Ford has an soul solution. Nestled connected their tons betwixt those best-selling F-150s is simply a smaller, hybrid option, called the Maverick.

The Maverick has a decent-sized furniture and an upright motortruck shape, but occupies astir arsenic overmuch intelligence abstraction down the instrumentality arsenic a compact car. It's pricing starts astatine $28,145, returns decent substance economy, and fits wrong parking spots without becoming its ain geometry problem.

I spent a week pinch one. I'm convinced it is simply a applicable action for tons of American families.

At least, if they don't get carried distant pinch options.

My 2026 Maverick Lariat AWD Hybrid costs $46,770 aft options, including a moonroof, tonneau cover, tow package, and Ruby Red paint. That is astir $19,000 much than the guidelines hybrid — and capable to complicate the Maverick's statement arsenic the affordable antidote to today's bloated pickups.

The Maverick is upright — successful bully and bad ways

I drove the Maverick astir 150 miles astir New York City and connected a formation travel to the Jersey Shore pinch 3 friends.

It was soft and nimble astatine debased speeds, pinch a turning radius that reminds maine of a Volkswagen Jetta. Parallel parking was a breeze, and the large, blocky windows provided fantabulous visibility.

The Maverick's upright building shapes astir everything astir it, for amended and worse. Its seating position is easy to climb into, and passengers get plentifulness of headroom. The vertical doorway panels besides time off an different magnitude of retention supra the cupholders — you'd beryllium hard-pressed to find a h2o vessel that was excessively gangly for the Maverick.

The rear seatbacks, however, were truthful upright that my passengers' backs wounded aft the formation trip. The speakers besides beryllium adjacent to their heads, making it difficult for front- and back-seat occupants to perceive each different whenever euphony is playing.

Hard gray-blue integrative covers overmuch of the cabin. A Redditor who said they owned a Maverick erstwhile wrote that those surfaces will scratch if you look astatine them the incorrect way.

Still, the Maverick felt solidly assembled. I noticed nary rattles, moreover done New York City's harsh roads.

The hybrid returned 33.5 mpg, versus its 36-mpg mixed rating. It was soft astir municipality but somewhat whiny connected the highway. Ford besides supplied a "braking coach" that graded really overmuch regenerative power I captured whenever I stopped — an amusing characteristic until it began to consciousness for illustration an overeager student who loved showing disconnected their homework.

The furniture easy swallowed our bags, formation gear, groceries, and sandy shoes. It had much than capable abstraction to haul each the family cogwheel needed for a play getaway.

The Maverick's placement wrong Ford

The Maverick could feasibly switch immoderate American SUVs — and that whitethorn beryllium precisely what Ford wants.

When I antecedently asked the automaker astir its determination to discontinue the Escape, a typical pointed shoppers toward the Bronco Sport and Maverick.

The Maverick hybrid, they pointed out, was Ford's cheapest hybrid. Ford besides has a pickup that slots successful betwixt the Maverick and the F-150 called the Ranger.

There's different pickup coming to Ford dealerships that could besides situation the Maverick.

The automaker plans to motorboat a midsize electrical motortruck successful 2027 pinch a target starting value of astir $30,000. Ford says it will person much rider room than a Toyota RAV4, positive a accepted furniture and beforehand trunk.

Should Ford deed its target, the EV will connection a proposition remarkably akin to the Maverick's: manageable dimensions, mundane practicality, and a starting value astir $30,000.

That highlights a hostility Detroit has yet to resoluteness during its modulation to EVs — its afloat electrical vehicles are still successful nonstop title pinch their gas-powered counterparts.

The Maverick nevertheless makes a convincing lawsuit for itself today. It gives buyers the useful parts of a pickup without the bulk aliases substance measure of an F-150.

It is best, however, erstwhile buyers show restraint. My loaded Lariat was a bully truck. A Maverick Hybrid person to $30,000 whitethorn beryllium a awesome one.