The Ford Maverick is a new compact pickup truck, smaller than the Ford Ranger and targeting a new kind of buyer in the USA. It’s packed with clever, unusual and fascinating features – not least of which is the option, right from launch, of a hybrid drivetrain. Something not even the best pickup trucks in the UK offer.
It’s also front-wheel drive as standard, and ‘unibody’ construction – which means the whole thing is a single, integrated monocoque, rather than a separate chassis with the body sitting on top. Again, this is nothing like any pickup on sale here right now.
Add-in some really well thought-out design figures and a US starting price of $19,995 – equivalent to just £14,100 – and it’s easy to imagine the new Maverick finding favour with small SUV buyers on this side of the Atlantic.
Especially those with particularly active lifestyles, as we know from running a Ranger Raptor long-term test that the ability to just sling a bunch of stuff in the back without worrying about carpet or trim damage can be seriously appealing.
Unsurprisingly then, we were straight onto our contacts at Ford to see if there are any plans to sell the Maverick to UK buyers…
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Stop mucking about – will Ford sell the Maverick in the UK?
Ok, ok. We’re just trying to delay the bad news: according to our contacts, there are ‘currently no plans whatsoever’ to sell the Ford Maverick in the UK.
Repeat: there is no Ford Maverick UK on sale date of any kind.
We supposed this could still change; it certainly wouldn’t be the first time Ford said one thing and then later did another – and there is that mysterious new light commercial vehicle it plans to build in Romania that it still won’t tell us about. But at this stage, no Maverick for the UK. Sorry.
However, as with the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup – which also isn’t coming to the UK – the Maverick is so packed with interesting details we’re going to highlight a few of them. Just in case you want to find out more.
So why should we care about the Maverick?
Aside from it having the same name as Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun?
Well, let’s start with the engineering bits. The hybrid version combines a 2.5-litre petrol with a Ford-built electric motor to achieve a combined 191hp and 210Nm, and is expected to manage nearly 40mpg in the official US fuel economy tests (which are typically a little more cynical than WLTP).
If that doesn’t sound like much, we refer you again to the fact that it’s a petrol-electric hybrid, rather than a diesel. Meaning lower levels of the nastiest emissions. And the ability to run on electric power alone for short distances (exactly how far hasn’t been confirmed but think more Toyota Prius than Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid).
Buyers will also get the choice of a 2.0-litre EcoBoost turbo petrol engine with 250hp and 375Nm. This will be thirstier, but also offers double the towing capacity at a maximum of 1,814kg (4,000lbs) instead of the hybrid’s 907kg (2,000lbs), as well as greater acceleration performance.
>> The best hybrid vans on sale in the UK
It’s the construction and drivetrain that really make the Maverick unusual, though. It’s based on the same platform as the recently launched Ford Bronco – a lifestyle SUV that’s sort of Ford’s answer to the Jeep Wrangler – and the all-in one construction makes it light but perhaps not quite so suitable for off-road shenanigans.
Signs that this is no conventional pickup include the lack of any gap between the load bed and the cab. The cab has four doors and five seats as standard, with no option for other bodystyles. Neat details here include protective cladding around the top of the load area and up the rear-most pillars – fitted to prevent dents when loading over the sides.
The front-wheel drive configuration is very un-pickup like, but similar to most modern cars. It’s great for packaging, but less so for loaded traction; Ford is offering the Maverick with optional four-wheel drive, however, and an off-road orientated FX4 equipment package. This little pickup has been tested rigorously, just like any other Ford truck, the company says.
Ok, it’s cute. But what makes it clever?
Ford has really thought hard to make the Maverick’s load area as useful as possible.
Not only is there the usual array of tie-down points, and various official cargo-carrying accessories – the thing has been designed with DIY owners in mind. Instead of making you buy Ford-branded load dividers (though these are available) there are slots in the back that allow you to make your own out of standard-sized 2×4 and 2×6 planks.
What’s more, there are threaded screw inserts for installing your own equipment and racking designs, and specific points where you can tap into the pickup’s electrics without having to splice into a loom somewhere – plus a proper plug socket for powering equipment in the cab and in the bed.
The load bed is just under 1,400mm long, but the tailgate has a partially lowered position that allows the Maverick to carry up to 18 8×4 sheets without bending by placing them on top of this and the wheelarches.
And while maximum payload is a modest 680kg – actually more than the Ranger Raptor can legally carry, but not enough to classify the Maverick as a light commercial vehicle for tax purposes in the UK – the tailgate can support up to 226kg. Easily enough for a couple of average-sized people to take a seat on it.
The tailgate tie-down clamps double as bottle openers, incidentally. Yes, officially.
Is it this smart inside as well?
Ford says the interior is about being ‘simple but not basic’. The Maverick is claimed to be spacious inside, and there are some interesting materials – including ‘reground carbonfibre’ and a ‘stonelike’ finish for the dash panel.
Clever design abounds here as well. A split in the door armests mean the ‘huge’ door pockets will take a 1.0-litre water bottle, as well as having enough vertical clearance to store a laptop or tablet.
There is more storage under the rear seats, while the FITS (Ford Integrated Tether System) offers a mounting point for various accessories on the back of the centre console.
The plan is to make the geometry of the FITS slot available to 3D printers, so people can again create their own ways to make use of it.
There are three trim levels – XT, XTR and Lariat – plus a First Edition package that’s only available for the first year. Even the most basic model gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and FordPass Connect, which provides a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 10 devices. There are plenty of active safety features under a new Ford CoPilot360 label, too.
Now we want one…
You and us, both. So if Ford shows any signs of changing its mind about selling the Maverick in the UK, we’ll let you know…
And in case you were wondering, as far as we know, the Maverick is not related to the next-generation Ford Ranger or Volkswagen Amarok, which are set to share an updated version of the current Ranger platform (according to the latest intel).
