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2022 MotorTrend Truck of the Year: The Finalists
You've seen the contenders for the 2022 MotorTrend Truck of the Year award, which is to say the trucks that put up a valiant fight but didn't make the finalist round. Now we present those that did make the cut. That's right, one of these four trucks took home the Golden Calipers—and after the dust had settled among the judges, it turned out the winner was crowned by just one vote. One reason the contest was tight: All four represent something new (or at least long missing) in the truck segment. The GMC Hummer EV Pickup and the Rivian R1T sit on the bleeding edge of what a vehicle with a bed can be, bringing personality, luxury, and most significantly, fully electric powertrains to the arena. They're the first mainstream electric pickups to go on sale. Our other finalists, the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, prove that good trucks needn't be behemoths, needn't be virtually impossible to park or own in a city, and needn't force you to pack a stepladder simply to reach into the bed. Each of these pairs seem like natural rivals—and indeed they are—but at a MotorTrend Of The Year event, no competitor is judged against any another; they instead face off against our six criteria. Read on for our reviews of each truck from this year's competition, and come back on Monday, December 13 to find out which one took home the trophy.
2022 Ford Maverick
It's been a long time since Americans have been able to buy a new compact pickup truck, but as the 2022 Ford Maverick proves, it's not the size of your truck that matters, but rather how you use it.
At first glance, the Ford Maverick probably wouldn't have the makings of a Truck of the Year finalist. Instead of, ahem, "traditional" body-on-frame construction, a big V-8 engine, and four-wheel drive, the Maverick is a unibody crossover-based pickup. It's built on the platform Ford uses for the Escape and Bronco Sport, and it's powered by a standard 191-hp hybrid and e-CVT drivetrain that motivates the front wheels. An optional drivetrain upgrade exists: a 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 making 250 hp, mated to an eight-speed auto, and available in both front- and all-wheel drive. Objectively speaking, all the above are specs we expect from a new Escape, not a pickup.
"I love this truck," digital director Erik Johnson said. "Love. It. So many clever features and well-thought-out surprise elements." Fact is, despite its relatively modest underpinnings, the Maverick is shockingly capable. With a stubby little 4.5-foot bed, it can haul as much as 1,500 pounds, and it features integrated slots to allow owners to DIY their own bed dividers, bike racks, and other accessories. It's rated to tow 2,000 pounds in hybrid form and up to 4,000 pounds with the turbocharged engine. The Maverick Hybrid is a plucky little thing confidently dragging a 1,500-pound trailer up and down steep grades during our trailer test. The turbocharged Maverick equipped with the 4K Tow package had a more difficult time dealing with our 3,000-pound test trailer, getting shunted around a bit by the weight. Head here for the Maverick's full TOTY review.
2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup
Few production vehicles have ever had this much presence, this much drama. It's difficult to walk away from a drive in the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup without smiling and shaking your head wistfully—or maybe it's your whole body shaking after a rollercoaster ride to 60 mph or beyond in Watts to Freedom (WTF) mode. The luster wears off a bit as the first impressions dull in your mind, but from beginning to end the new GMC Hummer is unforgettable.
The whimsy starts with the lunar rover theme, which is both metacommentary (GMC's accelerated development of this monstrous EV is quite fairly a moonshot) and a source of design inspiration. The new Hummer lays it on thick, with clear roof panels and a central bar that are removable for an open-air view skyward, while clearance lights give the mil-spec hood a cool and eerie glow at night. Then there is the amazingly entertaining CrabWalk mode and the latest version of the spooky-good Super Cruise driver assistance system. It is sometimes hard to believe this is a production truck rather than a mad science experiment some rogue engineers cooked up in their spare time. Head here for the Hummer EV's full TOTY review.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
MotorTrend's Truck of the Year competition isn't a comparison test, but when it came to the new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, judges found it difficult to avoid comparisons with the new 2022 Ford Maverick, the other new compact pickup truck that dropped this year.
"The Santa Cruz drives pretty well, but it doesn't have the Maverick's charm," Mexico editor Miguel Cortina said.
Ignoring the pesky Ford, it's worth considering what the new Santa Cruz is. Hyundai's first pickup in this market (the company has sold a light-duty pickup in South Korea, called the Porter, since the late 1970s), the Santa Cruz is a new compact pickup based on the Tucson crossover. The standard—and expected volume—drivetrain is a 191-hp 2.5-liter I-4 paired with an eight-speed automatic and the buyer's choice of front- or all-wheel drive. A 281-hp turbocharged version of the four-cylinder is available on upper-tier models. It's paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic and all-wheel drive, though front-wheel drive will be available later in 2022. Head here for the Santa Cruz's full TOTY review.
2021 Rivian R1T
Upstart automakers have every right to build an incredible vehicle straight off the bat, but few have enough resources or talent to pull it off. Indeed, automotive history is littered with would-be game changers who couldn't hack it, but we see no indication from the 2022 Rivian R1T that says the company will join that inglorious club. We've already called this electric truck "the most remarkable pickup we've ever driven. "
What impresses most about the 2022 Rivian R1T is its sheer breadth of capability. It's designed with an outdoorsy lifestyle in mind, but Rivian didn't let that approach compromise the R1T's ability to do truck things. Its towing and hauling capacities are on par with larger full-size pickups from legacy automakers, and its enormously powerful electric motors have zero issues dealing with the added weight of an EV. Head here for the R1T's full TOTY review.
You've seen the contenders for the 2022 MotorTrend Truck of the Year award, which is to say the trucks that put up a valiant fight but didn't make the finalist round. Now we present those that did make the cut. That's right, one of these four trucks took home the Golden Calipers—and after the dust had settled among the judges, it turned out the winner was crowned by just one vote. One reason the contest was tight: All four represent something new (or at least long missing) in the truck segment. The GMC Hummer EV Pickup and the Rivian R1T sit on the bleeding edge of what a vehicle with a bed can be, bringing personality, luxury, and most significantly, fully electric powertrains to the arena. They're the first mainstream electric pickups to go on sale. Our other finalists, the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, prove that good trucks needn't be behemoths, needn't be virtually impossible to park or own in a city, and needn't force you to pack a stepladder simply to reach into the bed. Each of these pairs seem like natural rivals—and indeed they are—but at a MotorTrend Of The Year event, no competitor is judged against any another; they instead face off against our six criteria. Read on for our reviews of each truck from this year's competition, and come back on Monday, December 13 to find out which one took home the trophy.
2022 Ford Maverick
It's been a long time since Americans have been able to buy a new compact pickup truck, but as the 2022 Ford Maverick proves, it's not the size of your truck that matters, but rather how you use it.
At first glance, the Ford Maverick probably wouldn't have the makings of a Truck of the Year finalist. Instead of, ahem, "traditional" body-on-frame construction, a big V-8 engine, and four-wheel drive, the Maverick is a unibody crossover-based pickup. It's built on the platform Ford uses for the Escape and Bronco Sport, and it's powered by a standard 191-hp hybrid and e-CVT drivetrain that motivates the front wheels. An optional drivetrain upgrade exists: a 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 making 250 hp, mated to an eight-speed auto, and available in both front- and all-wheel drive. Objectively speaking, all the above are specs we expect from a new Escape, not a pickup.
"I love this truck," digital director Erik Johnson said. "Love. It. So many clever features and well-thought-out surprise elements." Fact is, despite its relatively modest underpinnings, the Maverick is shockingly capable. With a stubby little 4.5-foot bed, it can haul as much as 1,500 pounds, and it features integrated slots to allow owners to DIY their own bed dividers, bike racks, and other accessories. It's rated to tow 2,000 pounds in hybrid form and up to 4,000 pounds with the turbocharged engine. The Maverick Hybrid is a plucky little thing confidently dragging a 1,500-pound trailer up and down steep grades during our trailer test. The turbocharged Maverick equipped with the 4K Tow package had a more difficult time dealing with our 3,000-pound test trailer, getting shunted around a bit by the weight. Head here for the Maverick's full TOTY review.
2022 GMC Hummer EV Pickup
Few production vehicles have ever had this much presence, this much drama. It's difficult to walk away from a drive in the 2022 GMC Hummer EV pickup without smiling and shaking your head wistfully—or maybe it's your whole body shaking after a rollercoaster ride to 60 mph or beyond in Watts to Freedom (WTF) mode. The luster wears off a bit as the first impressions dull in your mind, but from beginning to end the new GMC Hummer is unforgettable.
The whimsy starts with the lunar rover theme, which is both metacommentary (GMC's accelerated development of this monstrous EV is quite fairly a moonshot) and a source of design inspiration. The new Hummer lays it on thick, with clear roof panels and a central bar that are removable for an open-air view skyward, while clearance lights give the mil-spec hood a cool and eerie glow at night. Then there is the amazingly entertaining CrabWalk mode and the latest version of the spooky-good Super Cruise driver assistance system. It is sometimes hard to believe this is a production truck rather than a mad science experiment some rogue engineers cooked up in their spare time. Head here for the Hummer EV's full TOTY review.
2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
MotorTrend's Truck of the Year competition isn't a comparison test, but when it came to the new 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz, judges found it difficult to avoid comparisons with the new 2022 Ford Maverick, the other new compact pickup truck that dropped this year.
"The Santa Cruz drives pretty well, but it doesn't have the Maverick's charm," Mexico editor Miguel Cortina said.
Ignoring the pesky Ford, it's worth considering what the new Santa Cruz is. Hyundai's first pickup in this market (the company has sold a light-duty pickup in South Korea, called the Porter, since the late 1970s), the Santa Cruz is a new compact pickup based on the Tucson crossover. The standard—and expected volume—drivetrain is a 191-hp 2.5-liter I-4 paired with an eight-speed automatic and the buyer's choice of front- or all-wheel drive. A 281-hp turbocharged version of the four-cylinder is available on upper-tier models. It's paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic and all-wheel drive, though front-wheel drive will be available later in 2022. Head here for the Santa Cruz's full TOTY review.
2021 Rivian R1T
Upstart automakers have every right to build an incredible vehicle straight off the bat, but few have enough resources or talent to pull it off. Indeed, automotive history is littered with would-be game changers who couldn't hack it, but we see no indication from the 2022 Rivian R1T that says the company will join that inglorious club. We've already called this electric truck "the most remarkable pickup we've ever driven. "
What impresses most about the 2022 Rivian R1T is its sheer breadth of capability. It's designed with an outdoorsy lifestyle in mind, but Rivian didn't let that approach compromise the R1T's ability to do truck things. Its towing and hauling capacities are on par with larger full-size pickups from legacy automakers, and its enormously powerful electric motors have zero issues dealing with the added weight of an EV. Head here for the R1T's full TOTY review.
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