If you're going to do it, do it right! Toyota will bring the new Hilux as a BEV, a 48-volt mild-hybrid, or, in 2027, also as a fuel-cell model – provided that the latter topic hasn't completely settled by then. And yes, in a few markets like Kazakhstan or the Caucasus you can still get it as a non-electrified petrol engine…The approach is clear: freedom of choice for customers, which is why the BEV from Toyota is communicated very clearly as a “variant” before a few months later the 48-volt mild-hybrid diesel follows. The latter can then tow a full 3.5 tons and brings a decent range. Here, with the electric vehicle, you have to make compromises that should not hurt many fleets and commercial customers as much as Toyota, according to Hilux project leader Hideaki Hayashi: many are satisfied with up to 200 km of range, 600 to 700 kg of payload and 1.5 tonnes of towing capacity. And from these many “case studies” Toyota computed the sweet spot of its first electric Hilux.
Toyota offers ten years or one million kilometers warranty on the battery
For this, a 59.2 kWh battery is enough, whose cell chemistry comes from PPES (Prime Planet and Energy Solutions, a Panasonic–Toyota collaboration) and which, unfortunately, can only be replaced as a whole – you cannot replace individual modules, because it is housed watertight in a sturdy box. In total Toyota has packed 80 cells in five 16-cell modules. And since it is a Hilux, they should never fail during its lifetime, or almost never: if you have the battery checked regularly every year, you get ten years or up to one million kilometers warranty. Then Toyota still guarantees 70% SOC.
Toyota did not push the 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight to the limit
According to Suwadee Samuthananon, Regional Chief Engineer at the Thai production plant, it delivers up to 240 km range according to WLTP. The Hilux also hauls up to 1,600 kg of towing capacity and offers up to 715 kg payload, with 3,135 to 3,165 kg gross vehicle weight and 4,670 kg gross train weight. And since we’re on pickup-relevant data: the cargo bed measures 1,555 x 1,540 x 480 mm. What is a bit
unfortunate: V2L for heavy power tools the Hilux cannot yet: it can supply a maximum of 1,500 watts from its socket. The approach angles are 29 degrees at the front and 24 degrees at the rear. The wading depth is at least 700 mm and the ground clearance 207 mm. These are by no means best-in-class values, but all fall within the range you’d expect from a standard one-ton pickup in Europe.
Off-road and on-road feel so much more confident electrically
Briefly about the drive: The two electric motors deliver up to 82.2 kW at the front and 129.3 kW at the rear, but you must not simply add them, so you can end up with up to 144 kW (or, in old units, equally awkward 196 hp).
And how do they drive? Unladen, very confidently! We were allowed as the very first journalists in Europe to do a few fast on-road laps and a few challenging off-road laps, and we must say: Electric is simply much more fun off-road! You have the full torque ready at all times and can tackle the heaviest passages extremely slowly and take fast passages quite briskly. Sure, it can be fun to work in a rut with a clutch and low gear and then bring in lockers if needed, mid, rear, and if nothing else works, even front—but: if you view driving as a daily tool, you pick from the five special off-road programs the sixth, called “Auto.” Then the Hilux manages the propulsion itself as it sees fit and the drivers can fully concentrate on the terrain. On the screen via camera, zigzag more precisely between obstacles or let the Toyo crawl into deep holes very slowly and cautiously or climb up steep rocks! And you pick up a lot from the surroundings, which can be a lot of fun, especially in forestry—if you hear rare birds in the forest rather than the typically high-revving diesel.
The off-road programs differ noticeably
That the individual programs are indeed differently configured, we could test in a soft sand patch, where the Hilux in the “Sand” program allows more slip and power and thus gets out more confidently than in “Auto.” There would also be “Mud” for muddy ground,
“Dirt” for gravel roads, “Rock” for rocks, and “Mogul” for very rough irregularities… one way or another, it performs its job very well. Also in the Downhill program, which wonderfully maintains speed, but unfortunately only uses the service brakes and not the drives or the recuperation.
The art of vehicle construction: steel-hard core, flexible surroundings
And where at the back a comparatively finely structured De-Dion setup works instead of a heavy live axle with a large differential, that, together with the indeed movable frame, also compensates for extremely rough ground. This keeps the Hilux’s hooves on the ground longer and feels somewhat more flexible than the very stiff Ford Ranger. Yet the Hilux still delivers in a truly confident way: it basically provides 144 kW and 205.5 Nm at the front and 268.6 Nm at the rear wheels as soon as it starts moving, more than the additional electric motor in the Ranger PHEV. And even in the completely “hard-plastic-heavy” base version you can’t provoke the little crackle or chirp anywhere on poor roads or off-road! The workmanship is beyond any doubt. And the interior styling, with its angular blockiness, aligns with pickups and co.
Also on the road, it feels confident
Time to hit the road, where the Hilux also feels confident: The 144 kW are always enough for confident progress; the suspension and damping are somewhat more comfortable than in the Amarok/Ranger duo, and the steering is somewhat more indirect. Nevertheless, you can happily move the Hilux; in the limit, Toyota has tuned the driving assist for driving fun, which means: if you push the accelerator properly in corners, the rear end can be coaxed to the slightest hint of oversteer, and if you lift in tight corners, it spins nicely. The limiting factor is always also the tires, in this case Bridgestone Dueler, with which this vehicle class is often shod.
There are also three driving programs here: Eco, Comfort, and Sport, which only differ marginally. In Eco you gain up to 15 km more range, but you hardly notice any loss in climate control and power delivery. We briefly check the consumption on our fairly ambitiously driven lap: 34.1 kWh/100 km net would be roughly 37.5 kWh/100 km gross, but
we hammered the Hilux here with occasionally squealing tires into the limit — accelerating and braking hard — in practice we’d estimate a WLTP value of around 25 kWh/100 km plus/minus x.
Real buttons, as befits a pickup
The instruments are easy to read and at the steering wheel the Hilux scores with real buttons. The 12.3-inch central screen pleases with clear menus and not too much content in the base. The route planning handles it insofar as it reports when the battery level falls below 20% – then please look for charging options yourself. For the Paris–Berlin route it would have given itself ten hours 27 minutes on our attempt – without charging. That should work with up to 150 kW, albeit only for a very short time, because for the jump from 10 to 80% SOC Toyota cautiously states about 30 minutes. Slightly unusual are the maximum 10 kW for AC charging: For a full charge Toyota estimates around six hours and thirty minutes.
The difference between the base and the better-equipped variants is mainly noticeable at the soft-touch instrument panel with the closed cup holders – the doors are also softly trimmed. The gray artificial leather does not look significantly more valuable than the gray fabric of the base – in the base, as we noted, despite hard plastics there is no creak or rattle.
In the end we conclude: If you do not necessarily need to fully exploit range and towing capacity, the electric Hilux offers an interesting, absolutely off-road-capable variant to the 48-V mild-hybrid, which should primarily score on total cost of ownership. Because the electric version requires less maintenance, would also tolerate constant short trips, and still holds its own in the terrain – pardon – its Lux! The market volume in the first year is cautiously estimated by Toyota at 10 to 15 percent of total Hilux sales, which in Europe would mean somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 units. If we aren’t mistaken.
What does that mean?
Toyota is getting to the point: The Hilux comes first as an electric vehicle, then as a 48-volt mild-hybrid – and then perhaps even as a fuel-cell version. With that, Toyota covers drive systems broadly and still lets the Hilux
