Our Time in Eden: 10,000 Miles, Zero Problems With Our 2022 Ford Maverick Hybrid

Our time with our long-term 2022 Ford Maverick Lariat hybrid — winner of our Best of the Year 2022 and Best Pickup Truck of 2022 awards — is beginning to wind down, but our small staff has cracked the 10,000-mile barrier while experiencing nearly issue-free ownership. The plucky Maverick has scratches and dings from frequent city use in and around Chicago as well as one large dent in the plastic lower front bumper where a staffer made the correct decision to drive into a stray plastic construction barrel instead of the nearby concrete divider, but even after all our time with it, we still love the little truck. But as the weather has turned colder, did our fuel economy dip?

Related: 6 Months With a 2022 Ford Maverick: Is It Still Our Top Gun?

Still as Fuel-Efficient?

Since our last Maverick update, we’ve added nearly 6,000 miles to the Maverick’s odometer. In those 5,979.9 miles, we used 167 gallons of gas (the vast majority of it premium fuel, as Ford recommends it for best performance) resulting in calculated fuel economy of 35.8 mpg. That’s better than the Maverick hybrid’s EPA-estimated highway rating of 33 mpg, but it’s slightly lower than its 37 mpg combined rating and far below its 42 mpg city rating.

The 35.8 figure is also slightly lower than our last update in August, where we achieved 38 mpg over roughly 2,000 miles of driving, but it’s better than the 35.1 mpg we’ve averaged through 10,297 miles. Individual tank fuel economy has varied significantly depending on the type of trip taken, with our highest individual tank mpg since our last update coming in at 41.5 mpg, and the lowest — 30 mpg — when the Maverick was towing a trailer for part of the time. We also managed just one additional trip of more than 500 miles on a single tank (at 40.6 mpg) in 16 fill-ups, after two such trips in our 12 previous tanks.

The 167 gallons of gas we’ve put in the Maverick most recently have cost us $821.63 total, which works out to an average fuel cost of $4.92 per gallon. To hit the 10,297-mile mark, we’ve used around 293 gallons at a cost of $1,529.76. Despite spending $1,100 on a bed cover for the Maverick, fuel has been our greatest expense.

What’s Next for the Maverick?

We expect our fuel costs to go down, however, as we’ve switched to using regular gas for fill-ups. While Ford recommends premium, it says owners can use regular gas, so we’re going to see if we notice any impacts to performance or fuel economy. It’s not going to be a truly scientific test since we can’t control all the variables (especially weather), but we’re looking forward to seeing if there’s a noticeable penalty when using lower-octane gas.

As of this writing, there are also two recalls that affect our Maverick — one for an engine shield issue and one for airbag-related issues — but our dealership appointment to address both is not until later in January.

We’ve already done a lot of testing involving our Maverick and we’ve driven other Mavericks, too, including one with the Tremor Off-Road Package, so be sure to check out our coverage to help you determine which Maverick is right for you.

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