Toyota HiLux to go hybrid

Toyota has confirmed it is developing a hybrid version of its next-generation HiLux ute, following demand by rural and agricultural buyers.

The Thai-built Toyota HiLux is on track to be Australia’s number one selling vehicle for the fourth consecutive year and last year alone attracted well in excess of 50,000 sales.

Released in 2015, the current generation pick-up will be replaced by an all-new model by around 2023 and Toyota has pledged to offer some form of electrification in every model it sells by 2025.

Speaking to Australian media at yesterday’s Tokyo motor show, where the Japanese brand revealed its first EV in the form of the Ultra-Compact BEV and said it will release its first EV in Australia in due course, Toyota Australia's vice-president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley wouldn't be drawn on whether the HiLux hybrid would be the first of its kind.

“I can't answer that because I don’t know what the others [car-makers] are doing,” he said.

“We've always maintained that whatever we do in the future, we will continue to have HiLuxes, we will continue to have LandCruisers going forward, but we will bring out – in the future – some type of electrification. There's no doubt.”

Other manufacturers including Nissan are also planning hybrid powertrain technology for their next-generation light commercial vehicles, while some like Ford, Tesla, Fisker, Rivian and Bollinger have promised all-electric full-size pick-ups.

It's not clear whether the hybrid powertrain in the high-tech hay-hauler will be petrol-electric or diesel-electric, but Hanley wouldn’t rule out an electrically-assisted turbo-diesel system, which would be a first for Toyota.

“We haven’t firmed up our product offering of the future, but potentially we could have hybrid diesels,” he stated.

The company that has become synonymous with hybrid vehicle technology is yet to produce a diesel-electric powertrain and favours petrol-electric hybrid technology over diesel in its passenger car line-up.

However, Toyota sells more diesel utes and SUVs than any other brand in Australia, where it’s the top-selling car-maker and where it is currently facing a class action lawsuit due to serious issues with the diesel particulate filter fitted to the 2.8-litre turbo-diesel in about 250,000 HiLux, Prado and Fortuner vehicles.

Hanley said the first Toyota HiLux hybrid was “unlikely to be this generation HiLux, given that it’s mid-life”, confirming that the earliest the lean and green pick-up truck could arrive in Toyota dealerships would be 2023, given the current generation has at least another four years of service in it.

It's unclear how a hybrid HiLux 4x4 will function. Like other Toyota hybrids, it could simply employ a smaller electric motor within its transmission to improve torque and efficiency, or it could apply electric power only to one axle and diesel power to the other – either with or without plug-in capability, which would require a larger battery.

Hanley insisted the push for hybrid commercial vehicles is being driven by buyers in rural Australia and those in agricultural industries.

“What we're quickly learning as we travel around Australia and we talk about Toyota's hybrid technology in regional areas, there's two things,” he said.

“One, our regional areas, particularly in the agricultural areas, are well advanced in alternate powertrains for their own [agricultural] machinery.

“They are very enthusiastic for Toyota to bring out commercial vehicles in hybrid and they’re also very enthusiastic to learn what those commercial vehicles would be capable of doing,” said Hanley.

“It's incumbent on us to provide vehicles and mobility services of the future that suit their requirements and reduce any impact vehicles have on the earth.

“Whatever we bring out, we will have the capability required to fulfil their requirements,” he noted.

This suggests that payload, towing and off-roading abilities of any hybrid commercial vehicle – potentially including a hybrid Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series pick-up – will not take a backward step.

The 70 Series is another strong selling LCV for Toyota Australia, with more than 10,000 sales recorded in 2018. Hanley has previously confirmed its powertrain (currently a diesel V8) will continue to meet emissions legislation well into the future, potentially via hybrid, plug-in hybrid, all-electric or even hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

“It's certainly part of our future. We're not sitting back here thinking the 70 Series won't be part of our line-up in the future,” stated the Toyota boss this week.