Ford unveils new hybrid Maverick ute, priced from just US$19,995

The 2022 Ford Maverick pickup truck has just been announced in the US, starting from just US$19,995.

The new dual-cab ute, the Blue Oval's baby cousin to the hugely popular Ranger, is offered in XL, XLT and Lariat trim grades – all available as either a 2.5-litre petrol-electric hybrid or 2.0-litre petrol.

America's first-ever standard petrol-electric hybrid pick-up, is, Ford says, the "truck for people who never knew they wanted a truck", and comes into the market as a rival to the upcoming Hyundai Santa Cruz in the small truck segment.

The little ute boasts ample space inside and out, plenty of useful features for the DIY-oriented among us, and a claimed driving range of more than 800km on a single tank of petrol.

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Features and design

The 2022 Ford Maverick is offered in three trim levels – XL, XLT and Lariat. An FX4 package is available for all-wheel-drive XLT and Lariat variants.

For more off-road capability, the Maverick comes as standard with rugged all-terrain tyres and suspension tuning, additional underbody protection, and off-road-focused drive modes such as Mud/Rut and Sand, as well as the addition of Hill Descent Control.

Available for the first model year only, buyers can also chose an additional Lariat First Edition.

Built on the Lariat trim level, it adds graphics on the bonnet and lower doors, a high-gloss black-painted roof, soft tonneau cover, body-colour door handles and high-gloss black skull caps. The wheels are either gloss black-painted, machined 18-inch for the hybrid or 17-inch aluminium for the petrol version, and the paint options to be had on the limited edition run are Carbonised Gray, Area 51 and Rapid Red.

Sporting Ford's iconic pick-up truck style, the door design pays homage to the company’s signature drop-down side windows and a front end stretching edge to edge, connecting the standard LED headlights and grille for a rugged, familiar appearance.

At the rear, Ford has fitted a multi-position tailgate, slots to insert pieces of 2x4 and 2x6 (inches) wood to subdivide the tub, 12 available anchor points, two 12-volt, 20-amp pre-wired sources at the back for DIY work, plus two available 110-volt 400 watt outlets (one in the cabin and one in the tub) for powering small devices.

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Reground carbon fibre has been used in the interior for strength and as an aesthetic statement, while the dash has a stone-like finish.

Door armrests have a split design to allow a one-litre water bottle to sit upright rather than roll around on the seats, while door pockets are spacious enough to store a tablet or notebooks. There's also plenty of storage under the rear seats with enough space to fit a fully inflated basketball, laptop bags, roller blades, tools and other gear, according to Ford.

The dual-cab ute features an 8-inch touch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, standard FordPass Connect with embedded modem and Ford Co-Pilot360 technology.

There are five standard drive modes which include Normal, Eco, Sport, Slippery and Tow/Haul.

Engines, transmission, and fuel economy

The Maverick is available with a choice of two powertrains. The cheaper 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol hybrid delivers 142kW/210Nm when combined with the electric motor and is mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) driving the front wheels.

Those who want more capability can upgrade to a 2.0-litre EcoBoost petrol engine delivering 186kW/376Nm and mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, available in either standard front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

Fuel-efficiency for the hybrid is rated at 5.8L/100km in the city, with driving range said to be just over 800km on a single tank of fuel. Numbers for the 2.0-litre petrol turbo haven't been revealed.

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Dimensions, payload and towing capacity

The Maverick is 5072mm long and 1745mm tall, making it 282mm shorter and 61mm lower than the Ranger.

The payload capacity of the ute is 680kg. While the hybrid is said to be capable of towing 907kg, the 2.0-litre petrol, when equipped with the optional 4K Tow Package (worth US$745/AU$613) is able to tow 1814kg.

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Safety

As standard, all variants of the Maverick get:

Optional extras as part of Ford Co-Pilot360 technology include (costing US$540/AU$697):

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Pricing and model range

The Ford Maverick comes in three trim levels; XL, XLT and Lariat with both hybrid and petrol powertrains. Pricing before options and on-road costs starts from:

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Availability

The 2022 Ford Maverick goes on sale in the US in quarter four 2021 but it is available to order now.

No plans are being made for the Maverick to come to Australia at the moment, though Ford hasn't ruled out a right-hand-drive being made available in future.

UPDATE: That didn't take long! Online artists are already having a go at rendering the Maverick in a customised form, with the example below shown 'dumped' on big wheels and with a classic wire grille design. Click here to check it out on Instagram.

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Ford Maverick customised, virtually, by @abimelecdesign on Instagram.

How does it compare?

The Maverick enters the US small ute segment as a rival to the Hyundai Santa Cruz, which sadly will not be available for the Australian market, as the pick-up was never designed or homologated for right-hand drive.

The Santa Cruz also offers a choice of two engines, starting with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol driving the front wheels mated to an eight-speed auto, compared to Ford’s CVT. While Ford’s output is said to be 142kW/210Nm, Hyundai has yet to reveal performance figures for this engine.

Hyundai's up-spec engine is also a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol, but turbocharged to produce 205kW and connected to an eight-speed dual-clutch with paddle shifters, making it more powerful than Ford’s petrol turbo EcoBoost 186kW offering which is paired with its own eight-speed auto. Both trucks offer AWD on the higher-spec versions.

The Hyundai wins out when it comes to payload and towing though, boasting a maximum capacity of 789kg for payload and 1590kg towing for the naturally aspirated 2.5-litre, which is boosted to 2270kg with the 2.5-litre turbo.

The Santa Cruz is slightly smaller and shorter overall, with a 1.3m tub (cut back to just over 1.2m at the top end thanks to the cover) and a 2997mm wheelbase compared to Ford’s 3073mm.

Direct comparisons for fuel-efficiency are hard to make, as the Maverick doesn’t have any official ratings yet, although Ford claims the hybrid variant can achieve 5.8L/200km in the city, while the EPA states the standard 2.5-litre Santa Cruz can only achieve 11.2L/100km under the same circumstances and the turbo fairs even worse at 12.4L/100km, reports Motor1.

As yet, Hyundai hasn’t revealed pricing for the Santa Cruz but it’s safe to say it will be competitively priced.

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