Around town mpg: 2025 Maverick Hybrid AWD

[Timothyd]

Posting screenshots of my 1st drives around town learning hybrid drive for best city-driving mpg (previously owned a Prius).

1st picture is 1st highway driving home, sometimes down to 26mpg yuck! I'm mean amazing for a truck, but...will need some more driving mode & cruise testing, eco worse than normal mode for highway I think?

But look at that city driving, with a little bit of testing for the shift & drivetrain points, I'm getting 47mpg driving flat city roads up to 35mph!

Really amazing, but hypermilling in urban areas takes a bit of mental effort.

The challenge here is the ICE engine will kick in if acceleration-rate demand is too much, so slow steady rate of accelerator movt is needed.

The problem is that requires leg muscle dexterity most of us non-yoga masters don't have.

So the secret to good mpg is start using the cruise control as low speed as it will start, 15mph in Mav Hybrid.

click the + - cruise buttons for accel & decel to stay with traffic flow,
and your foot ready to brake at stops, & during driving only if you can't slow down fast enough with cruise + -

Maverick hybrid cruise control can start amazingly low at 15mph, I've never had that with my previous Prius or Honda CRV where cruise starts at 25mph.

As an aside, 15mph control sounds amazing for low speed hill-descent on a Maverick-level trail even if my base XL does not have the official Hill Climb or "Hill Descent" mode (or is it hidden?)

When start your drive just light touch foot accelerate slow from stop, & when you float to 15mph flip cruise on at 15mph,
& only click the cruise + & - buttons to accelerate & decelerate & just let the Ford drivetrain controller handle the rate of accel & decel for max mpg, the powertrain control unit will always get better mpg for accel & decel than you can with your foot.

on Flat driving that is, practice hypermilling 1st on a flat empty mall parking lot with small cardboard boxes weighed down with a small bag of beans marking pretend roads & practice cruise button slowing to a stop to see how much distance needed from various speeds 35mph & under.

Then when you have a baseline on flat roads with cruise only, you can practice on hilly roads also using cruise buttons, but with light foot accelerating on the last of the downhill, for interia speed to start going uphill.

I know Ford hybrid electric-gas drivetrain select is automatic,
but just watching it's wild that I was able to go at least to 35mph on electric only, if traction battery has enough charge from Regen braking.

Keep "hybrid training" selected it will tell you how much of the braking was captured for battery charge.

My last picture is a reality check if you're stepping hard on the gas, I guess it is what it is while engine is warming up. I wasn't initially thinking of how I was accelerator stepping.

I've noticed sometimes even at slow speeds the ICE engine keeps running, and in that case don't slow down with the cruise - just use the brake pedal, watch all the energy captured in your gauge, and both times car switched to electric & stayed through 25 or 35mph depending on how often I'd Regen foot braked to a stop.

Another tip I think might help with highway driving (no testing yet):

I noticed if you start slow driving from your garage, its electric only & the gas engine doesn't immediately start up.

General rule, ICE engines are most efficient & need to be at operating temperature for max efficiency & minimal engine wear, up to 90% of ICE engine wear supposedly comes from too hard acceleration of a cold engine.

A hybrid electric drive can readily get 500k miles on an unstressed ICE engine like our 2.5L with regular fluid changes & good driving habits,
so I would recommend on cold days startup, if the engine hasn't started up driving low speed, just step a little harder on the gas & the gas engine starts up.

That way even if you're electric driving residentially, by the time you get to the freeway & need the ICE engine, it's warmed to operating temperature.

[/QUOTE]
I live on high ground so using the electric is easy as I start downhill. Also, I always put it in ECO mode first thing. I have the FWD so good mileage in warm weather is easy. Right now I have snow tires and it's been below zero and snowy so I'm down around 40.7mpg. Come on Spring!

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[Timothyd]

With today's forward moving technology, I don't want to give up any MPG by going to AWD.

Same for me. With my Blizzaks snow tires I do great in the snow.

 

[ClemsonU88]

I live on high ground so using the electric is easy as I start downhill. Also, I always put it in ECO mode first thing. I have the FWD so good mileage in warm weather is easy. Right now I have snow tires and it's been below zero and snowy so I'm down around 40.7mpg. Come on Spring!

You're getting 40 mpg in the cold weather with your 2025 Maverick? I think I'm averaging between 30-33 (maybe 35).

 

[710-oil-614]

This is where my Volt Phev /range extender is better, with larger battery and programing/modes for EV only you can run around town for 40 miles, accelerate, go 80 on highway for 30 miles, whatever w zero concern to the ice kicking in. When it does use up the battery it them behaves more like a hybrid do zero range anxiety. If you want you can reserve some battery for an later ev only section of your drive (I.e make it go to hybrid mode earlier like maybe at 20 miles into the trip so you can go back to ev mode later for 10 miles). I like my maverick hybrid but would prefer it as a phev much more. Last note, not all phev created equal. I tested a Pacifica phev and it behaved more like a hybrid out of the gate, perhaps a change in settings would have helped but because it didn't have stowe&go we quit testing early because we weren't going to buy anyway. I think the "phevs" that are range extenders do better.

What yuo

You're getting 40 mpg in the cold weather with your 2025 Maverick? I think I'm averaging between 30-33 (maybe 35).

I got 29.8mpg hand calc over first 1k miles. Lots of cold driving without HVAC and a light throttle foot to make that happen too. Would have likely been around 27.5mpg had I just drove and used HVAC per usual.

That is WAY off the mark for the EPA combined ratings.

disappointing.

 

[GmanGM]

You're getting 40 mpg in the cold weather with your 2025 Maverick? I think I'm averaging between 30-33 (maybe 35).

I am only at 700 miles but only getting 32mpg.. Had one 80 mile trip on back roads at 50mph where hit 40 for just that trip.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

The 2024 Mav gasser I traded on the hybrid got pretty close to the same mpg I'm getting with the hybrid.

That's because on the highway, the Hybrid will not deliver much more impressive mileage than the ecoboost. Especially over 60. At that speed & higher, it rarely runs in Electric mode. If your driving is almost all highway, the reasons for buying the Hybrid shrink, except for higher resale value, less maintenance and likely a longer lasting transmission.

 

[JohnCondren1933]

First 1,000 miles of driving I spent a large chunk of it with the HVAC off driving lighter than I ever have and my hand calculated MPG is 29.8 which is about 20% worse than the combined EPA ratings.

Super disappointing to say the least.

Dude, my overall mpg is also right at 30mpg because so far heavily skewed to the 200 miles highway drive home I took.
And that is with the short city drives I'm getting 47mpg

I also have a 25 hybrid AWD it is going to have 3-5mpg lower than FWD, we have a heavier rear-axle to handle a rear differential & drive-shaft that can transfer up to 100% of torque to the back wheels.

This is not a lightweight Honda CRV, Ford Escape, or Hyundai crossover Haldex dual-pump rear differential that can transfer 25% of engine torque to rear wheels. Ours can move with 1300 lbs in the bed AND both front wheels spinning & lost traction.

In addition I'm pretty sure our 2025 HF55 hybrid motor-generator drive is a bit heavier & more powerful traction motor than the HF45 drive of 22-24 including uses larger CV axles than HF45. Stronger build generally means a bit heavier, it is what it is.

I've seen 12.6 mpg some drives initially in the cold, others have said cold weather is bad for trying to get good mpg from super cold battery & energy needed for heater.

If you do mostly highway driving you aren't gonna see much difference between hybrid & EB with AWD if both driven the same way. EB is prob gonna be better sounding & throttle response on the freeway. Yeah it is what it is.

Around town is where hybrid shines, & stop & go driving the hybrid will save a bunch over EB.
Hybrid regen braking = you aren't using mechanical brakes so if not slamming brakes you easily go over 100k+ miles till replacing pads. Not with EB.

Hybrid even with a heavy foot giving bad mpg, the ICE engine is babied compared to the EB. Electric motor assist at startup means the engine can run to operating temperature before a torque load demand,
I think the general rule of thumb is between 80-90% of lifetime engine wear occurs during startup & shutdown. The reason is different alloys expand with heat at different rates so pistons are sized to cylinders for clearance at operating temperature, so stomping the gas immediately after a cold start when the piston is smaller or has a bigger gap inside the piston, the higher pressures can slightly deform the piston which isn't as snug inside the cylinder, so in extreme cases only the edge of the piston rings are contacting the cylinder not the flat, & enough times you wear a microscopic chamfer or "rounding" of the pistonring-edge....
In any case, all other factors equal, the ICE in a hybrid will outlast same ICE in a non-hybrid drive ftw.
Hybrid 12v battery should last longer before replacing since its not used for the high-current demand of the starter motor as a conventional.
Ditto for hybrid needing to replace the motor-starter. Its part of the hybrid-electric drive & uses the HV traction battery.

Loads & fluid-change equal, Hybrid drive will last longer than an equivalent fluid torque-converter transmission because hybrid drive has no clutch-plates or contact parts to wear except the motor bearings.
Hybrid drives are much simpler & fewer parts, pretty cheap to replace a couple shaft bearings & electric oilpump in a Hybrid drive vs rebuilding a modern torque-converter transaxle (tranny)

The 8-speed ZF tranny seems to get about 200,000 miles before mpg loss from clutch-plate slipping wear rapidly drops
Prius & Ford Escape Hybrid regularly got 500,000 miles as NYC taxis (stop & go, low heat load, tons of time for cooling)

Of course the hybrid traction battery generally won't last as long as the hybrid drive, I've heard 200k-250k with regular fluid changes on Prius, I sold my Prius at 250k miles original battery it is a NiMH battery vs Lithium-ion for us so maybe about the same?

So apples to apples, traction battery probably lasts about as long as the EB torque-converter transaxle. Replacement units probably cost similar,
but the traction-battery takes MUCH less time, effort & tools to replace than a transaxle

NOTE: If you cannot read & fully understand electrical schematics, arc-flash procedures & PPE, & do not have the rated insulated tools & multimeter, do not even think about replacing a traction battery on your own.
If you are a curious electrician who rebuild Prius Nimh traction batteries, do not attempt trial & error disassemble a lithium-ion battery pack to test & replace bad cells without doing a lot of reading of L-ion hazard mitigation, & the fire containment & suppression setup.
Not even close to same risk level.

 

[MavMeister25]

Around town for 15 minute trips in the warm weather 70+ degrees? 45-50 mpg.

Around town for 15 minute trips in the sub-freezing temperatures? 28-30 mpg.

 

[710-oil-614]

Dude, my overall mpg is also right at 30mpg because so far heavily skewed to the 200 miles highway drive home I took.
And that is with the short city drives I'm getting 47mpg

I also have a 25 hybrid AWD it is going to have 3-5mpg lower than FWD, we have a heavier rear-axle to handle a rear differential & drive-shaft that can transfer up to 100% of torque to the back wheels.

This is not a lightweight Honda CRV, Ford Escape, or Hyundai crossover Haldex dual-pump rear differential that can transfer 25% of engine torque to rear wheels. Ours can move with 1300 lbs in the bed AND both front wheels spinning & lost traction.

In addition I'm pretty sure our 2025 HF55 hybrid motor-generator drive is a bit heavier & more powerful traction motor than the HF45 drive of 22-24 including uses larger CV axles than HF45. Stronger build generally means a bit heavier, it is what it is.

I've seen 12.6 mpg some drives initially in the cold, others have said cold weather is bad for trying to get good mpg from super cold battery & energy needed for heater.

If you do mostly highway driving you aren't gonna see much difference between hybrid & EB with AWD if both driven the same way. EB is prob gonna be better sounding & throttle response on the freeway. Yeah it is what it is.

Around town is where hybrid shines, & stop & go driving the hybrid will save a bunch over EB.
Hybrid regen braking = you aren't using mechanical brakes so if not slamming brakes you easily go over 100k+ miles till replacing pads. Not with EB.

Hybrid even with a heavy foot giving bad mpg, the ICE engine is babied compared to the EB. Electric motor assist at startup means the engine can run to operating temperature before a torque load demand,
I think the general rule of thumb is between 80-90% of lifetime engine wear occurs during startup & shutdown. The reason is different alloys expand with heat at different rates so pistons are sized to cylinders for clearance at operating temperature, so stomping the gas immediately after a cold start when the piston is smaller or has a bigger gap inside the piston, the higher pressures can slightly deform the piston which isn't as snug inside the cylinder, so in extreme cases only the edge of the piston rings are contacting the cylinder not the flat, & enough times you wear a microscopic chamfer or "rounding" of the pistonring-edge....
In any case, all other factors equal, the ICE in a hybrid will outlast same ICE in a non-hybrid drive ftw.
Hybrid 12v battery should last longer before replacing since its not used for the high-current demand of the starter motor as a conventional.
Ditto for hybrid needing to replace the motor-starter. Its part of the hybrid-electric drive & uses the HV traction battery.

Loads & fluid-change equal, Hybrid drive will last longer than an equivalent fluid torque-converter transmission because hybrid drive has no clutch-plates or contact parts to wear except the motor bearings.
Hybrid drives are much simpler & fewer parts, pretty cheap to replace a couple shaft bearings & electric oilpump in a Hybrid drive vs rebuilding a modern torque-converter transaxle (tranny)

The 8-speed ZF tranny seems to get about 200,000 miles before mpg loss from clutch-plate slipping wear rapidly drops
Prius & Ford Escape Hybrid regularly got 500,000 miles as NYC taxis (stop & go, low heat load, tons of time for cooling)

Of course the hybrid traction battery generally won't last as long as the hybrid drive, I've heard 200k-250k with regular fluid changes on Prius, I sold my Prius at 250k miles original battery it is a NiMH battery vs Lithium-ion for us so maybe about the same?

So apples to apples, traction battery probably lasts about as long as the EB torque-converter transaxle. Replacement units probably cost similar,
but the traction-battery takes MUCH less time, effort & tools to replace than a transaxle

NOTE: If you cannot read & fully understand electrical schematics, arc-flash procedures & PPE, & do not have the rated insulated tools & multimeter, do not even think about replacing a traction battery on your own.
If you are a curious electrician who rebuild Prius Nimh traction batteries, do not attempt trial & error disassemble a lithium-ion battery pack to test & replace bad cells without doing a lot of reading of L-ion hazard mitigation, & the fire containment & suppression setup.
Not even close to same risk level.

My most recent tank was probably 50/50 city v hwy which would mean I should be around the 37mpg mark.

I have plenty of 5 mile trips where I get 40-60mpg but the proof is in the pudding and those numbers seem wildly exaggerated for the single trips.

 

[JohnCondren1933]

So far I'm with you. I had a '22 Hybrid XLT and now have a '25 Hybrid XLT. I averaged 43 mpg (hand calculated to 41 mpg) with my '22. With the '25 I'm averaging around 30-33 mpg (I drive gently but not annoyingly gentle). That's 10-13 mpg (25%) less!!!

I got my '22 in July (when it was hot) and started out with great gas mileage. I think I still got 43ish mpg in the winter, but I can't remember. With my '25 I'm getting significantly better mileage on warm days, but there's only been a few of them. Maybe the warm weather will get me back over 40 mpg regularly.

If it stays around 35mpg in the Spring, Ford & I might have to have a discussion.

10-13 mpg diff is crazy!!
Is this 22 hybrid FWD vs 25 hybrid AWD?
There is going to be an mpg drop with the weight of AWD but that much is crazy!

We are having uncharacteristically cold weather, lets see what happens apples to apples with warm temperature.
I really can't wait for someone to do an HF55 teardown video, or better yet and HF45 vs HF55 teardown, I believe HF55 has larger CV-axles designed as a common drivetrain for a bunch of platforms, the 2025 4k tow package is just bigger radiator, hybrid coolant intercooler, & trailer brake controller so if the powertrain isn't changing it is built strong enough for 4k loads so imagine its heavier than the HF45?

 

[Scupking]

What yuo


I got 29.8mpg hand calc over first 1k miles. Lots of cold driving without HVAC and a light throttle foot to make that happen too. Would have likely been around 27.5mpg had I just drove and used HVAC per usual.

That is WAY off the mark for the EPA combined ratings.

disappointing.

My 22 was in the high 20s low 30s with cold temps. My 25 AWD is about the same. All vehicles get much lower mpg in the cold winter months.

 

[Shock96]

So I just picked up my 2025 Hybrid AWD and, according to the computer, I got 44mpg on the drive home. That was maybe 20 minutes in town and 40 on the freeway. Total of 50 miles give or take.

Temp was about 42 degrees and it was lightly raining. Tires show 38psi warm. Traffic on the freeway more stop and go rather than full 65mph the entire way but I would say maybe 60% at full highway speeds.

 

[The Real Maverick]

What if no one else is on the road? No harm in getting the best gas mileage possible when you're all by yourself.

I agree we shouldn't go around slowing everyone down massively just so we can get an extra 2 mpg. Do to others as you'd have them do to you.

Accelerating from 0 to 45 mph at the speed of a Mack truck hauling a full load REALLY annoys most people, so we probably shouldn't do it. BUT if no one else is on the road, knock yourself out; go get some good gas mileage.

Going slow is community service.
Everyone behind you is saving gas too!

 

[JohnCondren1933]

Going slow is community service.
Everyone behind you is saving gas too!

Problem is when you're crawling & they're in a hurry you induce people to tailgate & risk rear ending you. Whether your fault or not, sucks to have your car damaged & taken in

 

[Cherokee]

Around town for 15 minute trips in the warm weather 70+ degrees? 45-50 mpg.

Around town for 15 minute trips in the sub-freezing temperatures? 28-30 mpg.

I remember the first adds. The Maverick was supposed to be easy to park and the perfect light duty truck for urbanites.

Average that out over the year, Summer, winter, all of it.
28-30 hwy and 45-50 city.
Spring and fall is closer to summer efficiency right ?
I’d say the Mavbrid will land in the 30-45 mpg range overall and all types of weather.
All highway, 28-32
All city, 40-45
I’d throw out the extremes because a rare few will drive like that and not get road raged for holding up traffic.

The top tips outside of better throttle control would be,
Be fanatical about tire choice and pressures.
Do you really need those AT’s ?
My AWD is climbing my crazy steep loose gravel roads just fine on the OEM Michelins.
Keep your weight down. Don’t carry stuff you don’t need that trip.
Oh um keeping your weight down will help a tad and it has the side effect if a longer and healthier life.
:XD

I’m still hopeful that in four or five years when I trade in/up as I always will do now days. I can get a 2.0 Ltr Ecoboost Hybrid with a battery twice the size of the current drive battery. Or at least the optional spot/space to add capacity.

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