America’s hottest hybrid pickup truck is getting a facelift—or rather, all-wheel drive and a bigger screen.
Ford this week unveiled and will start taking preorders for the 2025 Maverick. The compact pickup truck, which has emerged as a hot commodity since it debuted in 2021, is slated to play a key role in the automaker’s electrification strategy.
In fact, Maverick is a prime example of the flexible approach to electrification that Ford has adopted amid a choppy transition to all-electric vehicles. Ford is emphasizing the power of choice as it offers a range of internal combustion engine, hybrid, and battery-electric options across its lineup.
“Few OEMs can offer a customer choice like Ford at our scale,” CEO Jim Farley said during the company’s Q2 earnings call. “Ford is No. 1 in our home market for internal combustion. We’re No. 2 in EVs…and we are the No. 3 hybrid brand in the US.”
Farley said that having “the right mix of fully and partially electric solutions” is one of the “success criteria” for EVs.
“A good example is our hybrid business,” he added. “The global hybrid portfolio at Ford is on track to grow 40% this year across nine nameplates. And we really bet on hybrid trucks. In the first half of the year, our hybrid pickups, Maverick and F-150, grew more than three times the rate of the overall hybrid segment.”
Earlier this year, Ford said it would pare back some of its EV plans and double down on hybrids. The automaker plans to introduce hybrids across its entire existing portfolio of ICE vehicles by decade’s end. Ford’s hybrid sales grew 56% YoY in Q2, a new quarterly record for the automaker.
It’s not the only automaker capitalizing on hybrids’ surging popularity with consumers. Hybrids, which pair combustion engines with battery power, saw a 76% YoY sales increase in 2023, the AP reported in mid-December, citing Edmunds data. They’ve been selling faster than both their ICE and EV counterparts, and they captured more of the new-vehicle market in the US last year than battery-electric vehicles.
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As Tech Brew previously reported, some of the factors driving this hot streak are that there are more hybrid models on the market; hybrids are, on average, cheaper than EVs; and they provide an answer to some consumers’ lingering concerns about EV batteries and range.
For Ford, the Maverick is an important piece of this puzzle. In 2023, the hybrid version made up more than half of Maverick sales and outsold the hybrid Ford F-150. The model is on track for an even better year in 2024, with sales up more than 80% YoY through the first half.
“We always knew that hybrid was gonna be a big storyline,” James Gilpin, Maverick’s brand manager, told Tech Brew. “Anytime you have a truck with 42 miles per gallon, that’s always going to get people’s attention.”
The 2025 model adds an all-wheel drive version with an optional package that doubles the truck’s towing capacity. It also features a larger, 13.2-inch touchscreen and a built-in 5G modem. Maverick has what Ford calls a “flexbed,” featuring side pockets and dividers that enable two-tier loading. It also offers varying tiers of access to Ford’s Co-Pilot360 driver-assistance technology depending on the trim level.
Standard features include pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping aid, and auto LED high-beam headlamps.
Ford also redesigned the Maverick’s LED headlamps, grille, and front bumper. Deliveries of the 2025 model are slated to start later this year. The starting price for the standard hybrid front-wheel drive model is $26,295, plus a $1,595 destination and delivery fee.