AutoTrader SCORE
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STYLING9.0/10
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Safety6.0/10
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PRACTICALITY7.0/10
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USER-FRIENDLINESS9.0/10
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FEATURES8.0/10
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POWER7.0/10
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COMFORT8.0/10
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DRIVING FEEL8.0/10
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FUEL ECONOMY9.0/10
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VALUE7.0/10
With the fuel-sipping, easy-to-park Ford Maverick, it's never been easier to be an urban cowboy.
Actually, you don't need the hat, boots, nor cattle to fall in love with this little truck, which is basically a dream machine for do-it-yourselfers. In daily driving, the 2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid gets the kind of fuel economy you used to get out of something like the Honda Fit. But need to tote an appliance to the recycling centre, throw mountain bikes in the back, or even pick up a new flatscreen TV? The gas-electric Maverick can be incredibly satisfying as a practical solution for pretty much anything. The only real drawback is that while this little pickup is much smaller than a full- or midsize pickup, its price tag has a footprint to give you pause.
Styling 9/10
Pickup truck styling in the modern age seems to mostly be about how large a grille designers can affix to the front. If a shiny chrome grille is the belt buckle of the automotive world, then most full-sizers are rolling around looking like professional wrestling champs.
The Maverick, by contrast, more closely resembles a time when trucks were stripped down and honest. It's handsome and square, somewhere between the old Ford Ranger and an F-150 from the 1970s. Never mind belt buckles — this little truck is jeans, but the working kind rather than the designer selvedge type. However, adding the black appearance package ($2,000) that includes wheels and other accents adds a bit of curb appeal.
Power 7/10
Much hay has been made about the stable of horsepower you get with the turbocharged versions of the Maverick, with the upcoming Lobo variant looking like a return to the street-truck scene of the 1990s. Sport trucks are fun, but the Maverick Hybrid is all about satisfaction.
First, the hybrid is not exactly slow. With electric motors pitching in on the low end to provide torque fill, it's a very satisfying vehicle to steer through stop-and-go traffic, pulling away from a standstill with some zip. There are those who might wish for some greater pulling power on the highway, particularly if you're looking to tow — the Maverick Hybrid is rated for 907 kg (2000 lb), while the turbo version doubles that figure — but for everyday use, it's the hybrid's stellar fuel economy that's the star of the experience.
Driving Feel 8/10
Because it's riding on the same platform as the Escape crossover, the Maverick is far more car-like than even tiny trucks like the Mazda B2200 used to be. The driver sits up high but not as high as in a conventional pickup, with excellent sightlines, it's not too wide for threading through a busy parking lot, and the ride and handling are pure modern crossover.
But while the Escape doesn't offer much in terms of driving personality, in the Maverick you have the fun of driving a truck. If anything, it's closest to the rugged little Bronco Sport in feel, where a competent front-wheel drive-biased platform feels more burly than it actually is. It's good fun, relatively effortless, and gives you most of the experience of driving a pickup without many of the drawbacks.
Features 8/10
Sitting at the top of the range, this Lariat trim has basically everything you'd need in a small truck, but won't touch its big-brother F-150 for luxury amenities. The power sunroof ($1,120) is an optional extra, and there's power adjustability for the driver's seat only. You do get heated seats (optional on the mid-grade XLT trim), and there's an eight-speaker audio. The Lariat is also the Maverick to get if you want push-button start rather than an actual key.
It's also the trim at which you get Ford's suite of advanced driver assists. These include adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and keeping assistance, as well as a forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking. For a pickup that might see plenty of in-city use, these assists could be quite handy, but you've got to pay up to get them. (More on that shortly.)
User-Friendliness 9/10
After the pleasing surprise of just how miserly the Maverick Hybrid is at the pump, probably the next most pleasing part about this little truck is its back-to-basics nature. Pickups have grown through the years, with higher sides that can be a reach to load. Hoisting cargo into the bed of a Maverick is a cinch, and while it doesn't quite have the bed capacity of a bigger truck, the flexibility is great.
On the tech side, Ford's infotainment is much better than early efforts. The Maverick's standard eight-inch touchscreen isn't as slick looking as the larger display found in the related Escape, but it reacts quickly and comes with AppleCarPlay and Android Auto as standard. (A bigger screen is part of the packaging for the 2025 Maverick.)
Practicality 7/10
With a 4-foot-5 bed, opting for the available bed extender might just make this small pickup more of a Swiss Army knife in your driveway. Still, the payload of 680 kg (1,499 lb) is respectable, and the Lariat's movable tie-downs provide some more flexibility.
Inside, the Maverick's boxy layout makes for a useful space, with plenty of storage throughout the cabin. Given that this truck is sized right for school runs and grocery shopping, buyers will likely want to also look at a tonneau cover for better all-weather cargo carrying.
Comfort 8/10
Again, the Maverick's Escape underpinnings make for a vehicle that looks like a truck, hauls cargo like a truck, but rides like a crossover. Even with the optional 18-inch wheels, this is nothing like the larger Ranger to drive. It's secure and composed at highway speeds, too, despite a bit of wind noise from that boxy layout.
Fuel Economy 9/10
Frankly, the fuel economy is excellent, depending on your use case. Rated for 6.3 L/100 km in mixed use, my tester managed to hit 5.8 in a week’s worth of driving that included shorter highway drives. On a longer trip with over an hour at highway speeds, the square shape and drag of the open box did sap fuel economy a bit, but it still handily outperformed most conventionally-powered crossovers. If most of your driving involves traffic, the hybrid version of the Maverick is the way to go.
Safety 6/10
In crash testing by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Maverick did well in updated side-impact testing, though it rated “Marginal” in the updated overlap crash test. It's not a Top Safety Pick award winner, and neither is the Escape it's based on (though that achieves mostly “Good” ratings across the board).
Further points here are docked for safety systems being optional extras. Blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assist are part of a $700 package on the two lower trims, and the Lariat is the only way to get adaptive cruise control.
Value 7/10
In terms of essentials, the Maverick lineup has what you need. In terms of niceties, you're going to have to pay up. The base XL now starts at $35,995 — more than $7,000 more than when it first launched. It's still charming and trucklike, with steel wheels and a proper manual key, and it comes with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. For less than $30,000, it felt like a bargain. Now it feels a little bare bones.
The as-tested price of this Lariat is creeping awfully close to the $50,000 mark, though that's perhaps not a reason to start looking at getting a Ranger or larger truck. However, for this kind of pricing, the Lariat really should come with all-wheel-drive standard. All-wheel-drive is coming to the Maverick for the 2025 year, so let's hope Ford can keep prices from getting any more inflated.
The Verdict
As a product, the 2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid is good enough to almost make you forgive Ford killing off its small car lineup. It returns outstanding fuel economy while offering about 75 per cent of the practicality of a full-size pickup truck, while at the same time being as easy to live with around town as a conventional crossover.
But, as has become regrettably common in 2024, on-the-ground availability and an increasing price tag have taken the shine off this little truck since its 2022 launch. It's still a great product, especially with all-wheel-drive on the horizon for the hybrid models, and more performance-oriented versions of the turbocharged ones. The Maverick's still a great steed for you urban cowboy types. You've just got to pony up a little more.
| Engine Displacement | 3.5L |
|---|---|
| Engine Cylinders | Hybrid I4 |
| Peak Horsepower | 191 net hp |
| Peak Torque | N/A |
| Fuel Economy | 5.6 / 7.1 / 6.3 L/100 km cty/hwy/cmb |
| Cargo Space | 4’5” / 1,382 mm bed |
| Model Tested | 2024 Ford Maverick Lariat Hybrid |
| Base Price | $44,100 |
| A/C Tax | $100 |
| Destination Fee | $2,195 |
| Price as Tested | $49,715 |
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Optional Equipment
$3,320 – Black appearance package, $2,000; Power sunroof, $1,120; Floor liners, $200
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