I Drove the 2025 Ford Maverick XLT AWD Hybrid. Here’s My Brutally Honest Review originally appeared on Autoblog.
A gateway drug into the world of trucks
When the 2025 Ford Maverick was parked on my driveway to be reviewed, my three-year-old daughter—who’s just as obsessed with cars as I am—said, “Look at the baby truck, Mama! I love it!” I’m not sure Ford designed the Maverick to be cute or endearing, but it definitely was. And because it’s cute and dainty, its capabilities are often underestimated. My husband used it to get his tools home from the repair shop he worked at, and immediately appreciated the cubby holes under the rear seats, the floor space, and, of course, the bed.
Trucks are borderline luxury cars these days, so I expected the Maverick to be closer to $45,000 MSRP. The model I reviewed was the XLT trim, which is the second from the base, so the MSRP is $30,645. Mine had the XLT luxury package, the optional Cosmic Blue paint, all-wheel drive, and the hybrid powertrain, pushing the suggested retail price to $36,645. The top-shelf model, the Tremor, starts at $40,995, which is still a great value for an off-road-focused trim with 4WD instead of AWD. After putting my kids in it, taking it to a friend’s BBQ, filling it with gear and toys, and daily driving it, I realized it’s a lot tougher than most people—including myself—would ever assume.
It won’t replace a full-sized truck, but it’s not meant to
When I went with my husband to fill ‘er up with tools after he quit his job as a master technician, the Maverick immediately drew a crowd. His coworkers swarmed to comment on how “cute” the Maverick was, poke fun at the towing rating (2,000 lbs, as it wasn’t configured with the $745 4K Tow Package that increases it to 4,000 lbs), how small the bed was, how low it was to the ground, and how petite it was. As he lifted the rear seats and began filling the storage sections underneath them with tools, their remarks slowed. Once he was able to fill the foot wells with bags full of other items, they stopped completely.
He especially appreciated the low entry point into the bed because he was able to put bigger items, like his bumper holder, smaller tool box, and tool bags full of items in it without straining to get heavier things over the side of the truck. This, he said, made him less anxious about denting it, and lowering the tailgate made it even easier. Before he knew it, he was able to fit everything that wasn’t in his large toolbox in the bed and rear seats. There’s no way all those items would have been able to fit in my Subaru Forester.
When it was time to go to a BBQ at his coworker’s house, fitting our daughters, their bikes, extra clothes, blankets, and other items was easy. Fitting a box of diapers, a pack of toilet paper, and paper towels from Costco was even easier, and it didn’t take up a single centimeter of space for me or the girls. The Maverick is truly in a league of its own, as it's not quite a car or SUV, but it's not a "real" truck, either. It's in the middle of it all.
Installing my toddlers' seats was a tad tricky
Like most small trucks I’ve reviewed, installing the top tether involved folding the top of the seat. Attaching it and adjusting one seat wasn’t too bad, but it started to get tricky with two front-facing toddlers. Once they were both adjusted, it was fine, but I realized that both seats being tightened would mean removal would be… Annoying, at best. And I was right. I had to cram my hand behind the back of the seat to loosen one seat to be able to loosen the other one.
Granted, most people aren’t moving their car seats from car to car every week like I am—so it won’t be as big of deal for those who are looking to the Maverick as a daily driver—but if you’re planning on making it a secondary car that you’d occasionally move seats into, keep that in mind. It was much easier in the Ranger, but not as difficult as the Honda Ridgeline.
The interior design and layout were fresh, funky, and comfortable
Both my husband and I immediately noticed that the speckled gray and electric blue plastic was used to break up the interior’s primary dark grey color. Almost simultaneously, we said it reminded us of the old-school camping coolers our parents used growing up. I’m not sure that Ford intended that, but it did inspire a sense of nostalgia for both of us. The driver and passenger seats were some of the most comfortable in any new car I’ve reviewed, with all the cushioning in the right places. The dash isn’t too high, making it easy to see over the hood and pinpoint the corners, so it was easy to see out of, too. Long-distance trips would be easy, breezy, and beautiful.
Since the Maverick’s design prioritizes the bed, the rear seats aren’t as spacious as the front seats, but there was plenty of space for my toddler’s car seats. Older kids would have enough space to enjoy looking out of the reasonably sized windows, but adults might find themselves needing to sit askew to be comfortable for long drives (unless, of course, either the driver or passenger was fine with having their knees up against the dashboard).
Mileage, unsurprisingly, was excellent
The Maverick XLT can be configured with either the 2.5-liter full-hybrid setup that produces 191 horsepower and 155 lb-ft of torque or the 2.0-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine. That engine makes 250 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque, so it’s more powerful, but it’s not a hybrid. The mileage as a hybrid was jaw-dropping. Around town, I was averaging over 28 mpg. When we drove to Prineville for the barbecue, I averaged 38.7 mpg. After my week with it, the average for all 180 miles I drove it was almost 39 mpg. And that was with it typically being full of people.
The AWD setup paired with the electric battery made the Maverick feel like there was more power to the pedal than there was, especially with the CVT. Starting from a stop was plenty quick, and getting up to speed on the highway wasn’t difficult. Trust me when I say this, it’s no racehorse—but it’ll get you from 0 to 60 in a very reasonable time.
The standard equipment was pretty impressive
One of the first things my husband noticed about the Maverick’s FLEXBED was the adjustable rails on either side of the bed. This way, if you needed to adjust tie downs in a specific way to keep anything from falling out, it was very easy to do. Those tie downs were everywhere you’d expect them to be, including on the tailgate itself, so you could tie down larger items with the gate down, like a couch or a dirtbike, with ease. On either side, there were 12V connectors, allowing you to power various tools with it or tap into it to use it as needed. There were locking storage containers on both sides of the bed, too, so you could lock up tools or camping supplies–but there was a posted weight limit of 20 lbs.
The XLT had a 13.2-inch LCD touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which worked seamlessly once I connected my phone’s Bluetooth. I was prompted to download the Ford app, and from there, I could do remote start, prepare the cabin’s temperature, lock and unlock it, and more. The sound system wasn’t anything to write home about, and there isn’t an option for a better one for the XLT, but it’s not horrible. It has enough bass to keep things interesting, but it’s not as good as the Bang & Olufsen sound system in the Explorer.
Ford has a very, very long list of add-ons to choose from
Looking at the webpage for the Maverick XLT was almost daunting. My thumb nearly felt sore from how many times I scrolled down before reaching the bottom of just the exterior add-ons. From Ford, you can have a bed cover added on, there are a few toolboxes to choose from, and there are Yakima bed rail-mounted crossbars. There’s also a bed extender, a bed divider kit, and splash guards. The one I drove didn’t have a power moonroof, but one can be added for $995; sun blinds are an option, as well as exterior lightning and a speaker from Overland, or matte black speed stripes on the hood and roof.
What’s even crazier is the fact that the top-of-the-line model, the Tremor, comes with an even longer list of standard equipment, but an equally long list of possible add-ons. You could easily configure it to be well over $50,000, but it’s also incredibly easy to make it a very loaded little truck for under $45,000, even with add-ons.
Final thoughts
The Maverick is growing in popularity, particularly in my hometown of Bend, Oregon, because it’s much tougher than it looks. I’ve seen people use them as company cars, moving HVAC or pool cleaning equipment, to light-duty construction cars, and I’ve seen a few of them being used as local government vehicles. My neighbor has one, and he uses it to move plants and garden material back and forth, as his wife grows and sells flowers at our local farmer’s market. I’ve seen a few being used purely as family vehicles to move their toddlers and their associated items around town, too.
All-wheel drive, a potent hybrid powertrain, plenty of space and comfort, and a reasonably sized bed make the Maverick more than just a Baby Truck. It makes it versatile for a wider range of buyers, and the price range makes it even more possible to buy one.
I Drove the 2025 Ford Maverick XLT AWD Hybrid. Here’s My Brutally Honest Review first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 9, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
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