The New Ford Maverick Pickup Is Getting a Hybrid Option
The electric F-150 Lightning isn’t the only new Ford truck about to hit the market. Although uncamouflaged prototypes and early builds were already spotted, the Ford Maverick pickup is now officially happening. However, the Blue Oval’s announcement comes with one more tease: a hybrid Maverick.
Ford teases the 2022 Maverick pickup’s hybrid version
While it bears the name of a ‘70s coupe, the 2022 Ford Maverick is a compact pickup truck, though not a traditional body-on-frame one. Instead, like the Hyundai Santa Cruz, the 2022 Maverick is a unibody truck. And it’s built on the same platform as the Escape and the Bronco Sport.
Because it shares a platform with those two crossovers/SUVs, the 2022 Ford Maverick will likely use the same powertrains, Motor1 muses. For one, that hints at the truck offering AWD, rather than 4WD. And it also means the Maverick could get the Bronco Sport’s optional 250-hp 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, Car and Driver notes. But it’s likely the Escape’s 181-hp 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine will come standard.
Speaking of the Ford Escape, unlike the Bronco Sport, it has an optional hybrid powertrain. And it appears the 2022 Ford Maverick is getting it, too. In a recent teaser video, actor Gabrielle Union opens a garage door to reveal a parked 2022 Maverick. And looking closely at the pickup in the video shows that it bears a ‘Hybrid’ tailgate badge, The Drive reports.
What kind of powertrain will the 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid pickup offer?
In the teaser video, Union doesn’t drive or start the parked 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid, so we can’t tell how it sounds. However, if the hybrid pickup borrows Escape Hybrid tech, there are two possible powertrains it could use.
The ‘standard’ 2021 Ford Escape Hybrid uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine linked to an electric motor. Together the system makes 200 hp and is available with FWD and AWD. And while it can’t tow as much as the non-hybrid 2.0L EcoBoost Escape, the Escape Hybrid is still tow-rated. With its standard AWD, the former can tow up to 3000 pounds, while the latter is limited to 1500 pounds.
The other hybrid powertrain potentially available to the 2022 Ford Maverick comes from the Escape Plug-In Hybrid. It has the same layout and output as the standard Escape Hybrid, only with a larger 14.4-kWh battery pack. Unfortunately, the Escape PHEV is FWD-only. However, it can operate in EV-only mode for up to 37 miles, MotorTrend reports. And it has the same 1500-lb towing capacity.
We’ll know more soon
The 2022 Ford Maverick will be officially unveiled on June 8th, 2021 across both Union’s and Ford’s social media channels. And in a first-time event for Ford, that includes TikTok. At that point, we’ll likely learn exactly what the 2022 Ford Maverick pickup will offer, hybrid powertrain and all.
Although there’s plenty we don’t know yet about the new Maverick, even a teaser of a hybrid model is significant. Together with the Santa Cruz, it signals a resurgence of the compact pickup truck segment. But Hyundai’s truck doesn’t offer a hybrid option, at least as far as we know. And it would leave Ford with a second hybrid pickup truck, on top of the F-150 Hybrid.
As such, it’s likely many truck fans will be counting down the days until June 8th with great excitement.
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