2022 Ford Maverick Awd Release Date, Interior And Features- Our early look at the new 2022 Maverick has proven that Ford Motor Company is not afraid of straying from convention. Unlike most Ford trucks, there will be no 4×4 version of the 2022 Ford Maverick.

Instead, an optional Intelligent All-Wheel Drive system is available for those who want it. However, there is a caveat. Here we take a closer look at how to get Intelligent AWD on the 2022 Ford Maverick, including compatible models.

The 2022 Ford  Maverick will come with a standard hybrid powertrain or an optional 2.0-liter EcoBoost® gasoline engine.

Intelligent All-Wheel Drive will be offered only on models with the gas engine. Trucks with the standard hybrid powertrain will not be compatible with Intelligent AWD at launch, but we’ll likely see the option added later down the line.

2022 Ford Maverick Awd Engine

Output jumps from 88 kW (118 hp) and 149 lb-ft of torque in the 2021 Ford Escape to 98 kW (131 hp) and 173 lb-ft. But the Maverick’s motor power is actually pegged at 126 hp because the 2.5-liter engine’s speed is limited in this application.

Such that the engine and motor-generator can only muster 94 kW of juice to feed this motor. Now, someday a PHEV variant could fix that (keep reading).

Output jumps from 88 kW (118 hp) and 149 lb-ft of torque in the 2021 Ford Escape to 98 kW (131 hp) and 173 lb-ft. But the Maverick’s motor power is actually pegged at 126 hp because the 2.5-liter engine’s speed is limited in this application.

Such that the engine and motor-generator can only muster 94 kW of juice to feed this motor. Now, someday a PHEV variant could fix that (keep reading).

2022 Ford Maverick Awd Transmission

Lost amid the hoopla surrounding the launch of America’s cheapest hybrid and its only pickup truck to boast a full hybrid powertrain as standard: The 2022 Ford Maverick boasts an entirely new electric traction motor that is the first one developed and manufactured fully in-house at Ford.

Its form factor isn’t terribly different from the motor used in the Ford Escape Hybrid, but it renders the e-CVT transmission a unique new part number from that used in the Escape Hybrid.

So although there is no packaging or technological impediment to modifying the Escape Hybrid AWD model’s e-CVT to accommodate the Maverick’s new motor, Ford decided not to bite off more than it could chew by developing and launching both front- and all-wheel-drive Maverick hybrid variants in the first model year.

Let those who demand AWD spring for the fancier, more profitable 2.0-liter EcoBoost Maverick. Ford can fan the sales flames later by adding an AWD Hybrid version to the lineup.

2022 Ford Maverick Awd Design

The rotor in this new 2022 Ford Maverick motor hides its magnets in double-V slots as opposed to single-Vs in the previous motor (which still powers the Escape Hybrid).

This design uses more and smaller batteries, and they’re all molded in place during the manufacturing process. The previous design glued the magnets in after the rotor’s manufacture.

The molded-in magnets can tolerate much higher rotating speed, and although the Maverick doesn’t take advantage of this capability, we expect to see all-new hybrid systems designed to use this motor that will indeed do so.

Behind the Maverick’s crew cab (the only available configuration) sits a 4.5-foot steel bed; it’s 6 inches longer than the Santa Cruz’s composite bed. The tailgate has two open positions.

Access its half-open position by unclipping the tailgate’s support cables and hooking them onto its latch pins; in this mode, it can hold up to 18 sheets of 4×8 three-quarter-inch plywood laid flat, provided the overhanging portion of the load is properly strapped down and flagged.

Unlike some other trucks with a halfway position-the Gladiator, for instance-there isn’t a retainer lip designed into the tailgate for longer loads. When the bed is flipped completely open, the Maverick offers up a 6-foot floor, enough for most ATVs and motorcycles.