Prospective buyer, lowdown on E-CVT

[CD_SM]

HI All,
New member here. Currently driving a 2013 Tundra that I no longer need the full capabilities of. I am very interested in the '25 Hybrid AWD 4K but have always been very leery of CVT's. I have searched the archives and it seems like the E-CVT is a different animal than the traditional CVT's. I also am a firm believer in Consumer Reports mag and they love this vehicle. This vehicle would do everything I now need from a truck but just need some reassurance of the E-CVT as we tend to keep vehicles at least 10+ years. Thoughts?
Thanks folks!

The ECVT is almost certainly the most reliable piece if kit on the whole truck. It has a total of about 12 moving parts (not exaggerating!). Very simple, very clever. It is very very similar to the Toyota Prius transmission, and there is a good reason you see so many Prius taxis. Crazy reliable. (It's close enough that ford pays royalties.) (It is a **completely** different animal than the non-e CVTs in Nissans, Subies etc., which feel like you're driving with a rubber band in the drivetrain.)
So feel free to worry about the CV joints, or the 12 v battery, but not the CVT.

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[Scupking]

An eCVT is one of the most reliable transmissions on the market unlike a CVT. Also the 25 awd gets an updated stronger eCVT.

 

[Ken L]

Go to YouTube and search for videos on the Ford HF45 eCVT. There are many. Most will cone up as the HF35 which is the earlier version. They are the same design but was upgraded strengthened components for the 22-24 Maverick. Apparently the 25 Maverick are upgraded again to the HF55.
I've watched many of these videos and still cannot understand it works.

Ken

 

[fossil]

Not on the eCVT itself but interesting Ford/Toyota hybrid trivia from 2010.

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2...ndisclosed-settlement-over-hybrid-technology/

In or about 2004 Ford and Toyota entered a cross licensing agreement where Ford got some eCVT tech and Toyota got some emissions tech where neither paid any royalties. Both techs are now over 20 years old, have gone through several generations and well beyond any patent protections.

 

[CD_SM]

Go to YouTube and search for videos on the Ford HF45 eCVT. There are many. Most will cone up as the HF35 which is the earlier version. They are the same design but was upgraded strengthened components for the 22-24 Maverick. Apparently the 25 Maverick are upgraded again to the HF55.
I've watched many of these videos and still cannot understand it works.

Ken

It's actually remarkably simple, if you have any idea of what a planetary gear set is.

In a normal planetary gear set, the outer ring is fixed. The number of teeth on that outer ring is part of how you calculate the gear ratio. In the ECVT, a small electric motor can spin that outer ring. That makes it act like a bigger gear (if you spin it the same way as the planet gears) or smaller gear(if you spin it the opposite way). The trick is in knowing how fast to spin it, in which direction, to get the gear you need. That requires a computer to do in real time, but the basic mechanical principle has been known for a very long time.

Probably the best YouTube I saw to explain it wasn't about Mavericks or Priuses or even transmissions at all; it was a guy building an adjustable planetary gearset with his 3d printer.

 

[elixir20]

Thanks folks. Will probably be headed to the dealer soon to order up a Hybrid Lariat AWD 4K pkg.

 

[wax87]

HI All,
New member here. Currently driving a 2013 Tundra that I no longer need the full capabilities of. I am very interested in the '25 Hybrid AWD 4K but have always been very leery of CVT's. I have searched the archives and it seems like the E-CVT is a different animal than the traditional CVT's. I also am a firm believer in Consumer Reports mag and they love this vehicle. This vehicle would do everything I now need from a truck but just need some reassurance of the E-CVT as we tend to keep vehicles at least 10+ years. Thoughts?
Thanks folks!

It is all with planetary gears, no belts like the other CVT's. I love the smoothness of it, no shifting gears, no hunting for the right gear when in cruise control.

 

[710-oil-614]

Have we ever gotten to the core of how many components the maverick hybrid shares with those older ford hybrids? I believe, and I could be mistaken here, that the 2.5 in the maverick hybrid is the same 2.5 duratec Ford has been using for ages. Not related to the original question, but if it's the same engine, that motor is reliable as hell. So another piece of information to help lessen our friend's reliability concerns.

it is not the same 2.5

 

[710-oil-614]

The maverick is not really a CVT as it does not have a belt or pullies. The CVT had a metal belt that would transfer power though two pullies that would change diameters thus changing the final drive ratio. This system had reliability problems but the Maverick does not use this system. the Maverick system is similar to that used by Honda and Toyota.

Honda is not similar to Toyota or Ford with their hybrids.

 

[710-oil-614]

The ECVT is almost certainly the most reliable piece if kit on the whole truck. It has a total of about 12 moving parts (not exaggerating!). Very simple, very clever. It is very very similar to the Toyota Prius transmission, and there is a good reason you see so many Prius taxis. Crazy reliable. (It's close enough that ford pays royalties.) (It is a **completely** different animal than the non-e CVTs in Nissans, Subies etc., which feel like you're driving with a rubber band in the drivetrain.)
So feel free to worry about the CV joints, or the 12 v battery, but not the CVT.

Ford does not pay royalties to Toyota for their hybrid system. Ford and Toyota co-developed the eCVT decades back but today they are no longer the same beyond the base technology co developed eons ago.

 

[Ken L]

It's actually remarkably simple, if you have any idea of what a planetary gear set is.

In a normal planetary gear set, the outer ring is fixed. The number of teeth on that outer ring is part of how you calculate the gear ratio. In the ECVT, a small electric motor can spin that outer ring. That makes it act like a bigger gear (if you spin it the same way as the planet gears) or smaller gear(if you spin it the opposite way). The trick is in knowing how fast to spin it, in which direction, to get the gear you need. That requires a computer to do in real time, but the basic mechanical principle has been known for a very long time.

Probably the best YouTube I saw to explain it wasn't about Mavericks or Priuses or even transmissions at all; it was a guy building an adjustable planetary gearset with his 3d printer.

Thanks CD. I missed the difference between the fixed and spinning outer ring. Makes sense to me know. Ken

 

[OneAlienBoi]

it is not the same 2.5

How do we know?

 

[OneAlienBoi]

it is not the same 2.5

Other sources, including other people on this site and others are stating it's the same engine, as is the common consensus. I'm curious what your evidence to the contrary is.

 

[710-oil-614]

Other sources, including other people on this site and others are stating it's the same engine, as is the common consensus. I'm curious what your evidence to the contrary is.

Ford themselves have dubbed their hybrid systems gen 1, 1.5, 2, etc. while the engine itself is fairly true to its core there have been incremental changes to it over the years.

 

[OneAlienBoi]

Ford themselves have dubbed their hybrid systems gen 1, 1.5, 2, etc. while the engine itself is fairly true to its core there have been incremental changes to it over the years.

True, but we're on gen 4 of the coyote and basically all of the changes they made were smaller, and made the engine better. It stands to reason the same applies to the 2.5 in the maverick. I have no idea what generation of 2.5 this is, but Ford tends to make small adjustments and improvements to it's motors rather than massive engineering adjustments. So this is still a 2.5 duratec, just improved and modernized a bit.

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