• Toyota presented an electric Hilux pickup truck in concept form in Thailand.
• The manufacturer is also developing a hydrogen-powered variant.
• The Hilux is not offered here, but our Toyota pickups could one day benefit from technologies developed for other markets.
• Toyota boss Akio Toyoda holds to his belief that all-electric models are not the only way to achieve carbon neutrality.
Yesterday we reported on speculation that the next generation of the Toyota Tacoma pickup, could get a hybrid powertrain as part of its offering.
But Toyota may looking to do one better with its trucks and electrification. The automaker, as part of a celebration of the brand's 60th anniversary in Thailand, introduced an all-electric version of the compact pickup it offers in that market and elsewhere in the world, the Hilux.
The Hilux Revo BEV concept shared the stage with another prototype, the IMV 0 light commercial vehicle. Presenting the models was none other than Toyota President and CEO Akio Toyoda. He did not provide any information about the electric Hilux, but he did mention that part of the development work for this model was done in Thailand, where the Hilux is a very popular model.
Akio Toyota also reiterated during the presentation his belief that all-electric models are not the only way to achieve carbon neutrality goals. We know that Toyota favours a plurality of solutions to get there.
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Toyota also announced it has begun work on a hydrogen-powered Hilux after receiving support from the British government through a program for the development of “zero emission” vehicles. That's all we know for now, except that Toyota plans to take an existing Hilux and graft a fuel cell onto it using its own second-generation technology, notably present under the hood of the Mirai.
In this case, the hydrogen tanks will be stored under the cabin and the fuel cell will replace the combustion engine in the engine compartment.
Obviously, the Hilux is not sold in North America and that’s not going to change, but it is interesting to see how Toyota approaches the electrification of its lineup elsewhere in the world. Once the technology is developed, it can then easily be grafted onto other models, this time for our market.
Stay tuned.