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Since we were in Nashville, we popped over to the Lane Motor Museum to say hello. The museum let us pose the Maverick next to some very big and very small trucks. [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—If you have ever bemoaned the increasing size and cost of a new pickup truck—and Ars’ comment threads are bursting with such like-minded individuals—then today’s truck might pique your interest. The new Ford Maverick comes with a highly efficient hybrid powertrain capable of more than 40 mpg (5.9 L/100 km), a simple but stylish interior with a can-do attitude, and a starting price of just $19,995.
Unlike the rest of Ford’s pickup truck lineup—which all use body-on-frame construction—the Maverick shares its unibody platform with the Escape and Bronco Sport crossovers. It’s compact for a pickup: at 199.7 inches (5,072 mm), it’s more than 10 inches shorter than a Ford Ranger and nearly 3 feet shorter than an F-150. However, that means the Maverick makes do with a 4.5-foot (1,372 mm) bed. Although, as we’ll see, bed size hardly impedes this truck’s utility.
The Maverick bucks the big-truck trend under its hood, too: there is no V8 or even a V6 option. Instead, the default powertrain is a hybrid that combines a 162 hp (120 kW), 155 lb-ft (210 Nm) 2.5 L four-cylinder engine that runs the Atkinson cycle and a 126 hp (94 kW), 173 lb-ft (234 Nm) electric traction motor, with a combined output of 191 hp (142 kW) via a continuously variable transmission (CVT) to the front wheels.
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