Electric HiLux under study for Australia

Two senior Toyota Australia product management executives are currently in Thailand assessing the local suitability of the battery-electric Toyota HiLux ute concept first unveiled last December.

Confirmation of the study trip comes as Toyota Australia announces it will launch at least three battery-electric vehicles in Australia by the end of 2026.

The first will be the Toyota bZ4X mid-size SUV in late 2023, but the other two definite arrivals are yet to be named. More EVs are under study and they could go on sale here in that timeframe.

Toyota Australia sales, marketing and franchise development chief Sean Hanley refused to say if a HiLux EV was confirmed or under study for Australia, but did confirm local interest in the Thai concept.

“We have people looking at that BEV HiLux in Thailand right now as we sit here,” said Hanley.

“There’s two of our senior executives over there right now looking at that car to determine its suitability, what it can do, so this is all part of what we do.

“They [the senior Toyota Australia executives] are over there learning about the technology, the capability, the potential for it in this market if it was ever built.

“We are a big, big HiLux customer of Toyota Motor Corporation so of course we get the opportunity.”

Then Toyota President (and now chairman) Akio Toyoda revealed the HiLux Revo BEV at an event to mark the 60th anniversary of Toyota operations in Thailand.

No technical details were revealed, but the Revo is based on the current-generation HiLux. A new-generation model is expected to launch by 2025.

Revo was the second mid-size electric ute Toyoda has shown off in a little over a year, including an unnamed concept revealed in December 2021, when Toyota announced plans to roll out 30 EVs globally by 2030.

Toyota does not currently offer any form of electrification for the HiLux or any of its commercial vehicles.

But hybrid power is expected as soon as the new model’s arrival in 2025, a plug-in hybrid is also possible and EV powertrains are on the way.

None of the major mid-size ute brands yet offer electrification, but the new Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Navara are all expected to offer electrified options within years.

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Chinese brands are at the forefront of mid-size EV utes, however. The LDV eT60 has launched in Australia, a JAC equivalent is coming and the Geely-developed Radar RD6 is a chance.

Hanley said it was important to get a HiLux with “some form of electrification” on sale in Australia.

But he specifically cautioned that Toyota Australia would sell a HiLux EV only “if it is capable and fit for purpose”.