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Hi, everyone, and welcome back.
I'm Jon Linkov.
I'm Ryan Pszczolkowski.
And I'm Mike Monticello.
And, again, I'm Jon.
Nice to meet you.
Hey, you guys look different.
You guys look different than on the camera.
Yeah, it's that rudiness and stuff like that, bad beard.
Yeah, so, as you can tell, we are back in the studio.
We're back baby!
Yes, 18-plus months later.
Wow.
We're sitting next to each other.
This will be in flux and new some.
Episodes might be here with three people,
some might be some kind of hybrid,
maybe one person will be like a computer screen here.
We'll talk to Max Headroom of [? auto ?] [? test. ?] But
we're making it a go with it.
So enough of that, we're happy, we're back.
We're excited.
Sure.
All right.
Let's get to it.
So this week first car that we're
going to talk about-- the car we're
going to talk about, the Ford Maverick hybrid.
Everyone's been asking about this.
This has been the trucklet, the car-based truck,
the affordable vehicle that people have been asking for.
No more F150s, right.
No more giant trucks, it's all about small car-based?
I don't know about that.
All right.
Well, some people.
The interesting thing is that this is the entry level
truck for the Maverick line.
But even though it starts at 19,995
our truck is a little more.
We bought the Lariat version.
We were lucky to even get one.
So we--
Good point.
--that's how we ended up with Lariat,
I think, was we just grabbed what
we could at that point because they were so far out, right?
Right, right?
Yeah, so it's a trim higher than what we got for--
we had an XL-- we have an XL t for the turbo--
Right.
--Maverick and this one's the Lariat.
So it's a little bit nicer truck.
Right.
Yeah.
So now is one of the things we talked about with the regular--
the XLT kind of iffy as far as the materials and such--
Right.
So this one-- only the hybrid only comes front wheel drive,
powered by 191-horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine
hybrid and hybrid powertrain with a continuously variable
transmission.
EPA rates it at 37 miles per gallon combined.
You're not seeing that in even diesel pickup trucks.
No.
But, anyway, while it starts at $19,995,
our Lariat came out at $25,860 for that trim.
And total with options, big $32,925,
including the $1,495 destination fee, Monti.
That's the bane of your existence
having written that story on it.
Yeah, way too expensive.
That's a lot of money.
It's amazing how fast you go from a base price
to $10,000, $15,000 over that.
Right.
It's like-- it's insane.
Right.
What bothers me about that destination charge,
and not to harp on the destination--
Go ahead.
--but when you talk to the automakers they say,
"well, it's because people are buying so many big SUVs
and pickups."
Well, OK, this might be a "pickup"--
Right.
--but it's a tiny pickup.
So why is it still the same high price
that they're charging for pickups.
So it's really tells you that the destination
charge is a little maybe gaining a little extra cash there--
Yeah.
--without having to put it into the base price.
Fattening the wallet, so to speak.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And it's not always clear.
I mean, we'll get to the car, but it's not
even clear about what include.
I've had people ask me about--
"the dealer said they're charging me for fuel
because gas is so expensive."
That's supposed to be in the destination charge.
And--
Anyway.
So anyway.
But the big thing about this fuel economy and trucks
it's-- and it's all about the hybrid powertrain.
Ryan, tell us tell us a little bit about your experience
with it because--
I mean, you're both truck guys.
I haven't driven it.
You guys are going to tell me about it.
But it has some pros and cons.
Yeah, so, I mean, to be quite honest
and I'm embarrassed to admit this, when I first it in,
I didn't realize it was only front wheel drive.
I did not know that.
And then he floored it and spun the front tires.
No, well, I did I was, actually in the-- in my back lot and I
was-- it was like--
there's a hill there and some dirt.
And I actually sensed the front wheel spun.
And I-- dawned on me, oh, this is only front wheel drive.
And then further research you can only get it that way.
I didn't realize that.
But to me that's a huge hindrance here.
Aside from that, it's fantastic.
I mean, I think it's a better--
it's a nicer driving version than the 2.5 all-wheel drive
version we have in the XLT.
The Turbo.
Yeah, the Turbo.
I think it's a two liter.
It's a two-liter Turbo charge.
Two liter Turbo.
I'm wrong again.
That's OK.
Unbelievable.
But it's got all-wheel drive.
Yeah.
So, it's got all-wheel drive, right.
And I bring up that front-wheel drive thing
because I tow stuff.
You put stuff in the bed.
Up a little hill, you're spinning tires.
Even if you had a little boat, I mean,
I think it tows 2,000 pounds.
Even if you wanted to tow a little boat up-- around here,
our boat ramps are slimy and gross.
You're not going to get out.
I think you're going to be struggling.
And that's a virtue of a truck that
has four-wheel or all-wheel drive, right?
So, that's a big thing to me.
But as far as driving it as a regular car
and having a bed, for maybe a more urban area where you're
not going off road or doing any of that stuff, it's fantastic.
I mean, it does a good job at that.
It's a big caveat to not have that all-wheel drive, but--
I think it fixes some of the issues we
had with the two-liter Turbo, right?
Which is, because that has a regular transmission,
regular automatic transmission, this
has a continuously variable transmission,
one of the things we noticed was that Maverick
wants to get into as tall of a gear as possible
for fuel economy.
And then it ends up in this 1,300 to 1,500
RPM zone where it feels like the engine is lugging
and there's this vibration coming into the cabin.
And then, so you either have to hit
the gas pedal a little harder to get it to downshift,
or eventually it figures it out and does it on its own.
Well, this one has none of that, right?
So, it cures that part of it.
And I will say, I thought-- so, I was a little different.
I knew that it was front-wheel drive only,
but I also thought 191 horsepower, the base
powertrain, this is going to be kind of a dog.
And honestly, I don't know why dog is a derogatory thing,
but anyway.
It's more like a sleepy kitten.
Yeah.
Let's call it that.
It's like sleepy cat.
A lazy dog.
So, but it's actually-- it feels pretty good.
I mean, it's got decent enough passing power.
It's not like you feel like it has
way less power than the Turbo Maverick,
so I was impressed with that.
But you still have a continuously variable
transmission, right?
And so, this has the downsides of the continuously variable
transmission, CVTs, that we've been talking
about for a long time, which is, most of the time,
it does a great job of keeping the RPMs really low.
And none of this lugging stuff, none of this vibration stuff.
But when you need to really, say,
pass somebody, accelerate onto the freeway,
or when you're just going up, say, a long grade,
it's going to have those moments where the revs are
being held really high.
Engine flares.
And it gives this sort of droning sensation.
And it's where the acceleration, when you're accelerating,
the RPMs are higher than-- seem discordant with your actual--
the revs are higher than what it seems like you're accelerating.
So it still has those CVT foibles.
This is not one of the best CVTs out there
where it has the simulated shifts.
This doesn't do that.
And also, it has a different rear suspension.
These ones come with a twist beam,
non-independent rear suspension.
It's like a solid beam riding instead of being independent.
So, what I noticed was a combination of 18-inch wheels
and tires on this one instead of-- which
is because of the Lariat trim, versus 17s
on our Turbo Maverick, which is the XLT,
and the non-independent rear suspension.
One of the things we really liked about the Maverick was
it's pretty civilized.
It has a pretty civilized ride.
This one, it feels a lot more like a regular pickup
from that perspective.
So you lose that--
it's not as comfortable of a ride.
I think it's still handles almost the same.
It would be interesting if--
is this like a regular pickup?
A regular pickup-- truck-based one, or a body on frame,
where the bed makes a big difference
if you're carrying something?
Is it going to settle the ride versus that other one?
I want to touch on 2,000-pound towing capacity for this.
4,000 is the max for the Turbo engine.
I have a hard time with people, like, oh, these
are great dump cars.
I mean, a $32,000 vehicle, even if it was a $25,000 vehicle,
to use as a dump run vehicle.
You mean as its sole purpose, you mean?
It's like, well, how much money do
you have in making these grand assumptions that these are
perfect for going to the train and going to the dump,
and that's what you're using your vehicle for?
But does it mean that pickups could be the new SUV?
Could small pickups like this replace SUVs,
or are they still too limited with the bed and such?
I mean, people have already done that with the full size.
I mean, our F-150s or any of the trucks that we've tested,
and they're big four doors, the back seat is enormous.
The new Tundra, tons of room.
And that makes, to me, perfect sense.
And it tows a lot.
It's more of a multipurpose vehicle.
But it's a pain in the neck in town, rain, that stuff.
Whereas this is awesome with the visibility and ability to park.
So, yeah.
I mean, it comes down to your needs, I suppose.
I mean, I would never--
I mean, that doesn't suit me.
While I had it, I brought some stuff to the dump.
It was good to just throw stuff in the bed.
But if you need just--
to your point, if you need just a dump run,
you're better off buying a junk old little truck
and leaving it in your yard, and you're
registering it on a minimum insurance
and just use it when you need to.
You've got other cars to do the other things, but--
I think that it's, say, this is that time of the year
where you go to the hardware store or whatever,
your outdoor store, and you get mulch, right?
So, it's great for stuff like that
when you want to throw bags and mulch or whatever.
Just throw them right in the pickup bed.
And that's great for things like that.
And of course, yeah, you can bring your garbage
to the dump or whatever and not have
to worry about doing anything with the inside of the car.
And you're looking at, what, close
to around 10 miles per gallon, according to the EPA,
better fuel economy.
And the low entry price--
It's still much lower than a big, full-size truck,
even used.
Those are some of the real benefits to this.
And so, yeah.
This is not a vehicle you're going to take off road.
It's front-wheel drive, as you said.
You can't even get it in an all-wheel drive.
Don't even think about a low range.
So, this is not--
normal pickups we think of, you can take them off road.
They're really burly.
This is not that at all.
This is a car with a bed.
And there are some other downsides.
I was talking about some downsides.
Well, you know, it's a hybrid.
And there's been some issues.
We've noticed some hybrids don't have as linear a brakes
as regular cars.
This one has some of those same issues.
Low-speed brakes.
Low-speed braking can get grabby,
or when the region starts hitting in,
and it feels a little weird.
And so, these are just things that you're
going to have to learn to put up with and learn to change your--
you're going to have to work a little harder at modulating
the brakes to have it stop exactly where you want.
These are some of the things with the hybrid.
One thing we talked-- you guys were talking about.
I mean, I was just listening and learning--
about the way the powertrain fills in.
Are hybrids almost perfect now versus
when they were introduced?
And are they almost being overshadowed now by the push
to EVs?
I mean, because, much like the Ford Escape Hybrid--
the basic Escape was annoying.
The engine would rev. You had that power fill-in
need, or such.
The hybrid got rid of that.
We look at Hyundai's.
The Hyundai Tucson, the Hyundai Santa Fe, The Hyundai Elantra.
All of the hybrid versions are better.
Yeah, they're scoring better in our [? testing. ?]
They're just more livable.
And you get the mileage.
This isn't the day of the Honda Accord Hybrid
when it first came out where they said,
it's the performance one.
All that money for what?
It's not really faster, and it's not really great mileage.
Is this the era that hybrids should be shining?
They make the most sense right now, if you ask me.
They do.
They make a ton of sense.
And I think the difference with this one
is that there are some things that you do put up
with for it being a hybrid.
But it's hard to overlook that fuel economy.
It's really hard to overlook that fuel economy gain.
And this is the first pickup truck
to ever come standard with a hybrid powertrain.
That's unheard of, right?
So, I think that we're getting to that point.
And it's kind of a shame.
You said, so we're moving-- it seems like the industry is
moving to EVs just as all these hybrids-- because at first,
hybrids, there were-- the braking issues I talk about
were far worse than what this Maverick has.
This is just a little bit of non-linearity in the braking.
Sometimes it felt like you had a hockey puck between the rotor
and the caliper, and you were--
And the CVTs.
[INAUDIBLE] spongy, yeah.
And the CVTs are getting better.
This is not one of the best, but it's pretty good,
and it's certainly better than the early ones.
So, yeah, they're getting so good, filling in those holes.
And that's exactly what this thing does.
With the electric drive, it's filling in the holes
and getting rid of the lugginess, vibrations
of the Turbo Maverick.
So, I mean, yeah, it definitely has some improvements.
But in this case, you also have some drawbacks with
the front-wheel drive only, 2,000-pound towing capacity,
and, of course, you have a tiny bed.
No matter which Maverick you buy, it's a tiny bed.
Sure, sure.
Would it be a take it to the mountain bike trail,
throw the mat over the back, and--
so you wouldn't go too deep.
You're not going deep.
Yeah, you can get to the trailhead.
Yeah, yeah.
And you'd want one of those tailgate mats,
for sure, because the bed is just--
you're not going to be able to throw bikes, really,
in the back very easily.
Cool.
So, go to consumerreports.org for more information.
Our first drive on the Maverick hybrid, as well as our test
results for the Maverick XLT Turbo that we tested.
With that, we're going to move to our next section, which
comes from content that you send us.
So, email us questions, video questions, text.
TalkingCars@icloud.com.
That's TalkingCars@icloud.com.
Send them in.
We want a varied selection of questions
from you, our audience.
That brings us to Kurt's question,
who says, "I need a lesson for physics dummies.
Please explain how coasting and braking
charges the battery in a hybrid or electric vehicle.
I know how brakes work and that they
create heat due to friction.
But how is that captured and used to charge the battery?"
So, we have an answer, and then Ryan's going to give it to us.
And then Monty and I are going to fill in
with some lame comments.
So, Ryan, tell us about the answer to Kurt's question.
So, yeah.
He's right about the--
a traditional car with regular brakes,
you step on a brake pedal, it squeezes a--
the caliper squeeze of the rotor that's attached to your wheel,
and creates--
you get heat out of that because that's wasted energy.
Conservation of energy, one of the laws.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed,
only transformed into something else.
So, that's what we're doing there.
We're transforming the energy of your car slowing down
into heat, and it's just wasted energy, unfortunately.
Electric motors, or EVs--
EVs or hybrids that have an electric motor inside of them
actually use the power--
so when you're on the accelerator, you're driving,
you're putting-- power from your battery
is going to the electric motor to your wheels.
It's pushing you along.
When you lift off, now you're coasting, and the motor--
your wheel is still attached to that electric motor
through the drivetrain.
And spinning that back-- and basically, in reverse,
putting energy back into the battery.
But you're slowing down because you're
fighting the forced energy it takes
to turn that electric motor, which creates that electricity.
It's more in-depth than that nowadays.
I mean, the technology, the things that they're
doing to maximize all that stuff,
it's not as rudimentary as I just said.
You're not just going backwards in power, but--
It's basically, if you think of it,
that your electric motor is powering
the wheels to accelerate.
Spinning one direction.
Right now, the wheels are powering the electric motor
to capture this energy back to the battery, right?
When the energy-- yeah.
So, the energy at the wheel and goes back into the motor
is greater than the energy that was being put to the motor
from the battery side, which is going to be none because you're
off the throttle.
It reverses the poles and it sends it back into the battery.
And there's controllers in there that are
controlling how this is going.
Like, a hybrid car, you have the gas motors involved, too,
charging the battery, too.
So there's a whole art to all of that.
Depending on the vehicle, you could choose the amount, how
aggressive the regeneration is.
Right, so then there's all of that.
I mean, some of these new ones you can turn off completely
so it feels like a normal car, just coast.
Or you can make it real aggressive
so you drive with just one pedal.
That's what one-pedal drive is.
So, the brake pedal essentially is kind of
built into that gas pedal, in a sense.
By lifting.
But if you need to stop, an emergency stop,
you have to step on the brake pedal
and it will use some regen braking,
but it'll go to your calipers.
You still have calipers--
regular, traditional brakes, if you will-- on a hybrid or an EV
because when you need to "stop" stop,
that's when that comes in.
But the distance cruise control distance sensing,
adaptive cruise control, often in hybrids and electrics
use that as a way of slowing the vehicle versus--
Oh, sure.
Yeah.
So, they're capturing the energy there right.
But in a general sense, motor spins one way,
motor spins the other way.
And it's all about capturing that heat
that otherwise would just be wasted and go
into the environment.
Yeah, well, it's not even heat.
It's just going back into--
that torque from the wheel is just going back
into the electric motor.
There's no heat.
The heat is "wasted" wasted, right?
So, I mean, there is some heat involved,
but it's very minimal.
It's not as if it's sucking the heat in to the [? motor. ?]
Right, yeah.
And that's kind of the way the question was written,
and that's not the case.
We're creating electricity through the very same
electric motor that is pushing you.
It's a genius thing because it's just the same thing.
You don't even have to have now a generator there, too.
I mean, that's essentially what--
an electric motor and a generator are very similar.
They're just in terms of which way the current is going.
Well, Kurt, I hope that answers your question,
and that's going to do it for this episode.
We are really happy to be back here in person.
It's been a long time coming.
Remember, send us your questions,
TalkingCars@icloud.com.
That way, three other people sitting at this table
can answer your questions.
Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next episode.
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