Because the new 2025 Ford Maverick comes again standard with a Hybrid drivetrain and now for the first time offer all-wheel-drive (AWD), many of its prospective buyers have never driven or ever considered purchasing one before. This will be the very first hybrid for a vast many people who have a lot of questions about it.
There are those with basic Hybrid 101 questions about how it works. For that we have an in-depth video on our Maverick playlist called Ford Maverick: Hybrid Explained which outlines in detail how the hybrid system works, drives and what it’s like to live with. Here we’re talking about the new Hybrid AWD model added for 2025.
Maverick Hybrid Powertrain
The Ford Maverick hybrid powertrain is composed of both the 2.5-liter Atkinson Cycle gasoline engine and an eCVT transaxle.
The electrified transmission called eCVT it’s not to be confused with a traditional gasoline powered CVT with pulleys and a belt that few people really like and many of which have bad reliability records. An eCVT is a completely different mechanical animal. An eCVT has no pulleys or belt but has a simple planetary gear set and two electric motors.
One motor known as the eMotor provides your main electric driving power. The smaller motor known as the motor-generator is used to start the engine, charge the high-voltage hybrid battery, provide regenerative braking, and performs other power balancing functions. It’s a remarkably simple system with about one third the moving parts of a conventional automatic transmission.
The Maverick’s HF45 e-transaxle designed in house and built at Ford’s Van Dyke Electric Powertain Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan. In both FWD and AWD models it’s a variation of the same e-transaxle currently used in the long proven Ford Escape and Lincoln Corsair hybrid.
The eMotor motor has 126 horsepower and 173 pound-feet of torque. Combined with the 2.5-liter gasoline engine which has itself 162 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of torque, Ford publishes a total blended system horsepower maximum at 191 and total torque of 155 pound-feet.
Enter AWD
Unlike systems like Toyota and other brands use which feature a separate electric motor at the rear axle and provide AWD functionality without a driveshaft connecting the front and rear axles, the Ford Maverick Hybrid has a more conventional system.
The Maverick Hybrid AWD uses a conventional power-take-off from the e-transaxle and sends it to the rear wheels through a driveshaft. The rear axle uses an open differential and an independent suspension identical to that of the EcoBoost gasoline models.
An electronically controlled clutch disconnect for the driveshaft allows it to act as a FWD only vehicle most of the time to save fuel. When traction becomes challenged and slippage is detected the computer can route up to 50% of the torque to the rear axle when needed.
Computer controlled traction and stability control systems automatically use the brakes at each corner to balance power to wheels which have the most traction and arrest the spinning of wheels which don’t have as much.
Various drive modes provided can provide different algorithms to the AWD system for various off-road and slippery surface scenarios that can bias the system to a more robust balance of traction. Like the EcoBoost’s standard AWD system which is identical to this one, there is no dedicated “locking” function that can force AWD traction 100% of the time like some brands offer.
4K Towing Ability
Because of the extra traction and inherent robustness of the Maverick’s now proven hybrid drivetrain, Ford is offering customers the option of the 4,000 pound towing package. The package brings additional cooling components with unique powertrain and battery management software. There’s an enhanced trailer hitch receiver with both a 4-pin and 7-pin connector with trailer brake controller.
