New to Hybrid. What to expect?

[MP-John]

I had a 2023 Lariat AWD and really liked it. I gave it to my grandson. Now I have a Hybrid at the dealership almost ready for pickup. Fully loaded less moon roof.
Just a couple of questions:
Is the solid top tonneau worth the $$? Had a rollup on the last one.
What is the driving experience of a Hybrid?

JohnT

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[Ozarkbeard]

I had a 2023 Lariat AWD and really liked it. I gave it to my grandson. Now I have a Hybrid at the dealership almost ready for pickup. Fully loaded less moon roof.
Just a couple of questions:
Is the solid top tonneau worth the $$? Had a rollup on the last one.
What is the driving experience of a Hybrid?

JohnT

Don't know about the tonneau, but I absolutely love the buttery smooth no-shift transmission of the Hybrid drivetrain. So much so, that I'll never own another vehicle with a conventional clunky multi-gear automatic that can't decide what gear to be/stay in. And I have had no lack of power issues when it becomes necessary to pass someone on a 2-lane road, or accelerate to get on a freeway.

 

[Ryom]

You'll appreciate the 0RPM torque that an electric motor provides along with the fuel economy and engine off HVAC.

 

[icegradner]

It won't be as fast as your EB was, but is smooth, quiet (aside from hill climbing) and efficient you won't care. Brakes, the feel of them is different from any ICE only vehicle, so there will be an adapting period for that. Long braking is better, that's the secret.

For the bed cover, do you mean the tri-fold or hard roll up? Tri-fold is fine as long as you don't use a bed rack. I have a bed rack, but I got it after getting the cover, wish I'd got a hard rolling one. The tri-fold hard cover is tough and you can put stuff on it for temporary storage while loading which is nice.

 

[riparian]

As icegradner noted, the brakes feel a little different and take a lighter touch. Early Maverick hybrid drivers reported that the transition from regenerative to conventional braking was very rough and abrupt, but I've not found this to be the case with my '24.

I suggest displaying the brake coach to help you get the hang of maximizing regeneration. The key is to start braking lightly well ahead of where you want to stop so the system can recapture the maximum amount of energy.

 

[icegradner]

Early Maverick hybrid drivers reported that the transition from regenerative to conventional braking was very rough and abrupt, but I've not foung this to be the case with my '24.

Thankfully this was fixed a few years ago with a series of software updates.

 

[Dad]

Definitely worth the upgrade to the hard tonneau cover. More secure than the soft top, and you can use it as reliable place for temporary storage. I've even used it to transport items to and from my rental house. (They're on the same small street).
I agree with all the other comments regarding smooth gear transfer, quiet ride, and good acceleration. Let's not forget the incredible gas mileage.

 

[AutobahnSHO]

If you brake earlier and gentler, you can recover a lot of motion into the battery. Light acceleration to get going OR drive a little bit aggressive to get up to speed then "coast" to let the ICE (gas engine) turn off will help gas mileage. You want to maximize the driving the ICE is not running.

A/C or heat on will make the ICE run more, so if you can use windows instead that can help.

But we don't stress it and are at 36mpg over 2 years, 20k miles.

 

[AfterTheCalm]

If you want to completely change your driving behavior, put the dash on Coach mode, and its like a game to see how much electric driving you can stretch out and also trying to get 100% braking efficiency every time. You'll see your total mpg climb up as well.

 

[HeyBales]

You can drive it like you'd drive the EB and get some benefit for gas savings.

If you were already a driver good at coasting to time lights or at least brake slow, and not a jack rabbit off the line - you'll reap even more benefits for mpg.

The Go pedal even in Normal default driving mode seems to have a little range before it powers up. I'm comparing this to a Rav4 last vehicle where it was touchy just off the line, and easy to keep highway speeds with out jamming the Go pedal down.
EB may have been the same way, so may not be a difference. But I find it easy to be slowing down as I keep pressing the pedal down - plenty of power, just trying to finesse that 2-3 mph more.
Cruise has no problem holding it.

The sounds the hybrid makes may grab your attention more, from different engine to spinning motors to AC motor on it's own.

 

[ZABSMAV]

Absolutely the genuine Ford tonneau hard folding cover is worth it. If installed correctly it keeps all water out of the bed. With your auto locking tailgate you'll know your contents are secured. What is really nice is you can flip it up and use the entire bed (minus a few inches) with the cover held up against the back of the cab.

 

[Benilla]

Never buy the tonneau off Ford, its overpriced. For example in Canada, we get:

https://bisontonneaucovers.com/prod...old-tonneau-cover?_pos=2&_sid=da13d0fbb&_ss=r

for almost half the cost

 

[MP-John]

Thanks for all the replies. Great Info!! The truck was ordered with the hard trifold. I'll tell them to leave it on. My delivery may be the 3rd of July. Time will tell.
Thanks again.

JohnT

 

[Waterick]

The fuel mileage this vehicle is capable of will amaze you. Even if your driving style is horrendous for MPG, the Maverick is forgiving compared to an ICE only vehicle. Once you learn how, the Maverick hybrid can deliver almost any reasonable MPG you want. High speeds and cold weather are not friendly to the MPG of this vehicle, but then they're not to most other vehicles either, we just don't scrutinize them so closely. Some tips:
Wait until engine is already warm or operating (if you can) to turn on the heat. Otherwise it may run just to heat cockpit.
Compressor (A/C) use will not affect MPG as much as heat because it's electric.
Avoid interstates even if they are faster if you want significantly better MPG. Especially true for rural rolling hill shorter options. Check the amount of time to be saved, may not be much.
Nice to know stuff:
Power steering and water pump are electric also. (No drive belts).
There are two cooling systems. One for the battery and one for the ICE. They are separate systems sharing separate areas of the same radiator. These are just some facts to get you started, there is much more to learn if you want - or not. Many experts here on the forum as I'm sure you know. May want to look at some of the hybrid threads you might have overlooked in the past. Unless you need the sudo security of a hard cover, the soft tonneaus keep the water out just as well.

 

[zen_]

Have you even driven a hybrid or EV before? The regenerative brake feels different, but not radically different. Just depends how much you care about efficient driving to maximize energy recovery in the city. It also feels a lot more grabby when it's wet. Other than that not much to it, and the stop / start isn't as bad as a pure ICE vehicle since the electric motor gets you going before the engine starts.

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