2025 Maverick AWD Hybrid vs Ike (The world's toughest towing test) by TFL

[The Real Maverick]

I would say if you are towing a load like this on a regular basis get a bigger truck. I would say maxing it out like this is okay every now and then but I wouldn't do it every weekend.

If only 1% of the population tows ever....

What percentage tows on a regular basis?

And what constitutes regular???

Just guessing here.
But if that number is 0.01% then this hybrid truck is just fine for 99.99% of people out there.

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[Whitty1]

If only 1% of the population tows ever....

What percentage tows on a regular basis?

And what constitutes regular???

Just guessing here.
But if that number is 0.01% then this hybrid truck is just fine for 99.99% of people out there.

It is fine for me. I towed a U Haul one time the 10 years I had my 96 Ranger. Most of the time my truck will be like a car with a bed. I can haul stuff too big or too dirty to get in my SUV

 

[Bob zimmerman]

I can’t imagine how hot the oil was in that truck. I don’t tink that engine could take that much longer before..boom.

On the upside, they passed a bunch of of semis. No fricking way that truck was managing that. Nobody would do that to their truck.
Pedel to the metal for 8 miles??

 

[FreedomPenguin]

I can’t imagine how hot the oil was in that truck. I don’t tink that engine could take that much longer before..boom.

On the upside, they passed a bunch of of semis. No fricking way that truck was managing that. Nobody would do that to their truck.
Pedel to the metal for 8 miles??

to be fair, have you ever seen the ecoboost stress testing done by ford? its INSANE.

wouldnt surprise me if this is well within its tolerance.

6 videos

 

[Frankd71864]

It's impressive. Even more impressive is that fact that they should've reduced total gross weight by 1,600 lbs:

Wondering if the next Maverick iteration (2028?) will only be hybrid. What's crazy is while it has 190 hp, that includes the battery supplying power and it was dead after that first acceleration run. So, they were doing it all on a normally aspirated 160 hp @ 11,000 feet.

Upgrade the interior a bit in 2028 and I'm a buyer.

I am fine with the interior. I'm sure cost will continue to increase. I just hope it doesn't increase so much that we are asking for an affordable truck again.

 

[The Real Maverick]

I can’t imagine how hot the oil was in that truck. I don’t tink that engine could take that much longer before..boom.

On the upside, they passed a bunch of of semis. No fricking way that truck was managing that. Nobody would do that to their truck.
Pedel to the metal for 8 miles??

Not that hot.
Did you see the snow?

It was single degree F outside.

But ya, I personally would not peg it for more than an on ramp or emergency passing, etc.

 

[colinl]

See I think it just showed it can easily tow 4K for anyone not driving 7% inclines at 11k feet elevation in freezing temps.

I’m planning on towing a combined weight of just at or over 3,000lbs and only to elevations as high as 4700 feet (although some 12% grades) and this video gave me great confidence I made the right choice

It did, and you did. I hope you're not counting me amongst the haters. I simply didn't know (no one besides Ford knew before this test!) and was curious. I like it when I can learn without spending my own money.

I would not be concerned about being pegged at 5500 rpm because it did hold 56 mph. I have driven that route many times because I've vacationed in summit county (Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon and Silverthorne) 11 times in the past 13 years and the climb is no joke.

there's another hard part from where this test stops farther up to Copper but again this truck proved to me (and everyone) that it can competently tow 4k pounds and more critically, it can descend safely with it as well. you're not going to crash at 56 going up, but if you cook your brakes coming down, it could get really dangerous.

TFL's video was exceptionally good. The gauges are an extremely good idea, not really for the engine rpm because you can't do a lot about that, but seeing coolant temp as a number and seeing transmission temp at all would be very helpful in hot weather to let you know if you might want to take a little break. Banks is probably the best recommendation because I personally wouldn't want a massive device like a Scan Gauge, and being a hybrid obviously you won't have a reflash tuning device like a Cobb Accessport to show you these metrics, either.

 

[710-oil-614]

It did, and you did. I hope you're not counting me amongst the haters. I simply didn't know (no one besides Ford knew before this test!) and was curious. I like it when I can learn without spending my own money.

I would not be concerned about being pegged at 5500 rpm because it did hold 56 mph. I have driven that route many times because I've vacationed in summit county (Breckenridge, Frisco, Dillon and Silverthorne) 11 times in the past 13 years and the climb is no joke.

there's another hard part from where this test stops farther up to Copper but again this truck proved to me (and everyone) that it can competently tow 4k pounds and more critically, it can descend safely with it as well. you're not going to crash at 56 going up, but if you cook your brakes coming down, it could get really dangerous.

TFL's video was exceptionally good. The gauges are an extremely good idea, not really for the engine rpm because you can't do a lot about that, but seeing coolant temp as a number and seeing transmission temp at all would be very helpful in hot weather to let you know if you might want to take a little break. Banks is probably the best recommendation because I personally wouldn't want a massive device like a Scan Gauge, and being a hybrid obviously you won't have a reflash tuning device like a Cobb Accessport to show you these metrics, either.

Nah, just folks in general. While I go to great lengths to make sure people know that Toyota and Ford's hybrid systems are solely their own it is hard not to acknowledge their vast similarities and I've recently hooned a rental highlander hybrid (2.5L AWD) around Western NC and it did fantastic and it got 31mpg. I had no doubts that the Hybrid would handle Ike. Hopefully in the coming years they will up the power of the 2.5L for max towing situations.

 

[colinl]

Hopefully in the coming years they will up the power of the 2.5L for max towing situations.

That's an interesting idea. as I'm sure you know, originally hybrids used much smaller engines to maximize fuel economy, like a 1.5L. but many are larger now - even the Prius has a 2.0L these days.

I had really only expected Ford to pair turbocharged 4s with hybrid for the next power category, and they definitely could. But given the not-great mpg of the 3.5L ecoboost hybrid in the F-150 PowerBoost, maybe they could do a larger atkinson cycle engine to address that niche better.

The niche being towing more and actually delivering better mpg than a non-hybrid / gas-only powertrain when not towing.

It's super expensive developing a complete engine, and Ford (like everyone else) was focused heavily on BEV for a while. I think it would need to be larger displacement as you can't turbocharge an atkinson cycle engine since the intake valve stays open so long. But how much bigger could this current block support, if any increase at all? Even if they got it to 2.7L, that is probably not enough for an F-150 which might need to be like a 3.0L inline 6 or something similar.

 

[710-oil-614]

That's an interesting idea. as I'm sure you know, originally hybrids used much smaller engines to maximize fuel economy, like a 1.5L. but many are larger now - even the Prius has a 2.0L these days.

I had really only expected Ford to pair turbocharged 4s with hybrid for the next power category, and they definitely could. But given the not-great mpg that the 3.5L ecoboost hybrid in the F-150 PowerBoost, maybe they could do a larger atkinson cycle engine to address that niche better.

The niche being towing more and actually delivering better mpg than a non-hybrid / gas-only powertrain when not towing.

It's super expensive developing a complete engine, and Ford (like everyone else) was focused heavily on BEV for a while. I think it would need to be larger displacement as you can't turbocharge an atkinson cycle engine since the intake valve stays open so long. But how much bigger could this current block support, if any increase at all? Even if they got it to 2.7L, that is probably not enough for an F-150 which might need to be like a 3.0L inline 6 or something similar.

They would make it so that it would operate as an Otto cycle engine at full throttle above X rpm like VTEC in a 90s/00s Honda. That peak of 155hp goes to 175

 

[colinl]

They would make it so that it would operate as an Otto cycle engine at full throttle above X rpm like VTEC in a 90s/00s Honda. That peak of 155hp goes to 175

the 2.5 already has variable valve timing on the intake side, which is where it matters. not exactly like 90s VTEC as it can't do anything about the valve lift, but timing yes.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

I hope they re-test the Hybrid in similar weather to what it was when they tested the EB. And without a traffic jam in the downhill section. It's hard to weigh just how much that affected the number of brake applications. Likewise, winter gas formulations are not necessarily ideal either.

Also, was the same trailer used with the same trailer brake setup? That would be critical to downhill braking as well.

My thought overall is that towing 4K with the hybrid in more typical terrain would not be a problem but that long 7% grade does tax the engine, especially at high altitude where a normally aspirated engine starts gasping for oxygen. Running WOT like that is not ideal.

 

[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

I can’t imagine how hot the oil was in that truck. I don’t tink that engine could take that much longer before..boom.

On the upside, they passed a bunch of of semis. No fricking way that truck was managing that. Nobody would do that to their truck.
Pedel to the metal for 8 miles??

Passing semis on a 7% grade is kind of normal. Sometimes, they're only going about 25-30 mph on a long steep climb. That's why there is usually an additional lane added on long climbs.

But yeah, I agree - drop it down to 45 mph and you'd not be screaming at 5500 RPM all the way up the hill. Might take a little longer but the wear and tear on the engine would be a lot less.

 

[Nw_adventure]

8 1/2 minutes or torture at 5,500 rpm. That is exactly what I expected. The hybrid can tow in a pinch, but if you’re a weekend warrior and tow a camp trail many weekends a year, the ecoboost would be a better choice.

Yeah and it seems Ford really wants that AWD/Hybrid to stay on the pavement- We tow our camp trailer on dirt frequently and like having the oomph when needed while not worrying about ruts/dips and such let along when you need to power up mountain grades at silly Utah driving speeds like 70-75 or get run over by Semis- That Moffett tunnel traffic looked pretty chill unlike any drive here in the Republic of Utah -

 

[colinl]

Passing semis on a 7% grade is kind of normal. Sometimes, they're only going about 25-30 mph on a long steep climb. That's why there is usually an additional lane added on long climbs.

100% true. the most dangerous of any of the Colorado highways are definitely the 2 lane when semis are climbing. people get impatient and do really stupid stuff.

but on that section, yes, it's very common to see semis doing 40 or less. passing them is a given.

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