2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid

The vehicle has grade assist braking, which cannot be disabled. At speeds below 35mph this braking is too strong and cannot be properly controlled with throttle input. The effect is that, when going downhill, if you release pressure from the gas pedal, the vehicle will abruptly decelerate by several mph with no illumination of the brake light. In traffic, in hilly areas, this is extremely dangerous and has led to several instances of nearly being rear ended. Furthermore, the only way to avoid slowing down is to accelerate. There is no way to feather the gas pedal to coast downhill, so you are either speeding up or slowing down (abruptly). This also requires keeping your foot on the gas pedal when it would be safer to be able to control the vehicle with the brakes. I have reported this to Ford. I have not taken the vehicle to a dealership (because I suspect that they will not be able to do anything about it). There are no warning lights.

The contact owns a 2025 Ford Maverick. The contact stated that while approaching a stop sign at 5 MPH, the contact attempted to depress the brake pedal; however, the vehicle continued to surge forward, causing to the contact’s vehicle to crash into the vehicle that was stopped ahead. The front bumper had struck the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead. No property damage was reported, and the vehicle came to a stop after crashing into the rear of the other vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle did not have to be towed. A Police report was filed. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed; however, the contact was advised that further diagnostic tests were required to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.