The highly-desirable Ford Maverick Hybrid pickup truck is about to get substantially more expensive. First reported by Ford Authority and confirmed by Ford to the Drive, the very attractive 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain will become a $1,500 optional extra on the Maverick for the 2024 model year. When combined with a general MSRP increase, this means that the price of the currently-base Maverick XL Hybrid will jump $2,305 from $24,190 to $26,495 including freight in one model year. For context, a 2022 Maverick XL Hybrid started at $21,490 including freight, so we’re looking at an apples-to-apples increase of $5,005, or 23.3 percent, over just two model years. That’s a huge price hike, but it’s not a terrible deal yet.
For context, let’s take a look at where other entry-level hybrid vehicles land. The 2024 Maverick XL Hybrid splits the difference nicely between a $24,145 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid LE and a $28,545 base-model 2023 Toyota Prius. The 2023 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid Blue stickers for $25,665 including freight, or only $830 less than the 2024 Maverick XL Hybrid. As for the 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid LX, it starts at $27,915. While not the $20,000 mic-drop it once was, the 2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid will still be one of the cheapest new hybrid vehicles on the market. Value over the competition is great, but what about over the gasoline-only Maverick? Let’s run the numbers and see if things break even on fuel savings alone.
According to the analysts at iSeeCars, the average new car-buying American kept their new car for 8.4 years before the pandemic. While a squeeze in new car supply may have bumped that number up a touch, we’ll stick with the 8.4-year metric as it’s the most current data available. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the average American drives 13,476 miles per year. If we multiply that by 8.4 years of vehicle ownership, we end up with a reasonably-inferred 113,198.4 miles traveled by the average first owner of a vehicle.
The EPA rates the Maverick Hybrid at 37 mpg combined, 12 mpg more than the front-wheel-drive Ecoboost model. This theoretically works out to 3,059 gallons of fuel used during the first ownership period to the Ecoboost model’s 4,528 gallons of fuel, meaning a 1,469 gallon delta. For the Ecoboost model to simply break even on fuel costs assuming a commute of mixed driving means that gas would need to cost $1.02 per gallon for the next 8.4 years. Yeah, I’d say the hybrid powertrain is worth it in this scenario.
Mind you, there’s always a whatabout-ism that contradicts popular reason, so let’s run through an extreme. What if you’re a traveling photocopier sales rep and drive almost exclusively on the highway? That’s where things narrow as hybrids are inherently more efficient in the city than on the highway. The Maverick Hybrid is rated for 33 mpg highway, or just three mpg more than the front-wheel-drive gasoline-only model. This means that over 8.4 years of exclusively highway driving, it should use 3,430 gallons to the Ecoboost model’s 3,773 gallons, resulting in a delta of just 343 gallons. To break even in this scenario, gas would need to average $4.37 per gallon over the next 8.4 years, which might not happen in low cost-of-living areas. If you live in, say, Cleveland, where regular gas has been well under $4 per gallon for the past eight months, there’s a chance you might not break even on fuel costs alone if all your driving happens on the interstate.
For most people, the $1,500 surcharge for the 2024 Ford Maverick Hybrid will be money well-spent. While not the screaming deal it once was, it’s still an entry-level hybrid vehicle. Of course, the big gamble will still be actually getting a Maverick Hybrid. As Kevin Williams detailed, Ford’s having trouble building Mavericks fast enough to satiate buyers, and current 2023 model reservation holders may get bumped to 2024 model year vehicles with some form of price protection in place, similar to what happened to many 2022 model reservation holders. Fingers crossed, then.
(Photo credits: Ford)
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I’m out.
I wanted one and had the cash set aside. I tried to buy one (at MSRP) for two years, and was unsuccessful. Now, the base hybrid XL is a full $5,000. more expensive than it was just two years ago when I first started polling nearby dealers in hopes of MSRP.
And of course, even at a $26,500ish MSRP now, you can’t get one for that price anywhere in Southern California. Add a minimum of a $10,000. gift to the dealer and be prepared to wait the better part of a year, and then maybe, just maybe, you can have a base hybrid Maverick, though not in either of the two by-far best colors since both Area 51 and Cyber Orange have been discontinued. WTF Ford?
I don’t actually feel quite as bitter as I sound about all this, but AFAIAC, Ford the manufacturer and Ford dealers can just go F themselves. I’ll buy something else from someone else instead, as a matter of principle.
The terrifying part is that my 2023 hybrid XLT with Luxury package came out to $26.5k after the price protection, since my order rolled over from the 2022 model year. I feel like I could probably sell it and make a decent profit but there’s nothing I would want to replace it with… outside of a PHEV version with AWD.
Maybe if hell freezes over, Toyota will make a GR Prius Prime. But as of now, I’m living in an apartment complex and would have no way to affordably charge it.
It’s worse in Canada, up here I’ve seen used Mavericks and they’re asking $55,000!