Toyota Hilux Electric review

From £40,580

There's an all-new generation of Toyota's legendary pick-up truck on the way. We catch an early drive of the new electric version

Electrifying a pick-up truck isn’t an easy task but Toyota has doubled down on its multi-energy commitment by adding batteries to one of its most prized assets, the Hilux.

Ford might have been first with the F150 Lightning, but without a chassis the size of a two-bed semi to put the batteries in, electrifying the one-tonne pick-up truck segment poses significantly more challenges. As a result, there are a lot of compromises that must be made, and what you’re left with is in many ways a shadow of the product you’ll find in ICE form, with less payload, lower towing limits and a severely compromised range. Maxus, Isuzu and KGM have also come to the same conclusion, having launched their own electric trucks this year.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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We’ll go more into those compromises shortly, but there’s one thing that Toyota has no intention of compromising, and that’s its reputation. Or more specifically the Hilux’s reputation as the toughest truck on the planet. Adding batteries is no excuse for weakness and reliability and robustness were therefore at the top of the list when it came to redesigning this ninth generation of the Hilux for an electric future.

Visually it’s a big departure from the current generation, both inside and out. The front grille gets the aerodynamic treatment you’d expect for an EV with a minimum of air intake openings to help it glide through the air more smoothly. It’s also far more upright and aggressive, reinforcing its toughness, despite its powertrain.

Despite it being all-new, Toyota has not changed the important elements that make a Hilux as capable as it is. It’s still a body-on-frame design with large rear leaf springs. The size hasn’t changed either, with a negligible 5mm decrease to its 5.3m overall length.

The big difference is that this will be the Hilux of the future, with a design that will not only be used for the BEV model, but also the 48V mild hybrid, which will become the default combustion engine option for mainland Europe and the UK. After extensive trials with a handful of fleet customers, Toyota will also introduce a hydrogen fuel cell model on this platform by 2028.

For now, though, the battery-electric truck will be the zero-emission standard bearer, using a permanent all-wheel drive system with a 193bhp power output. Power comes from a 59.2kWh lithium ion battery pack made up of five 16-cell modules that have been carefully positioned within the protective confines of the chassis and reinforced with added impact-absorbing sections to create something akin to a full body-length sump guard.

Toyota concedes that the battery is on the small side, but making it bigger would compromise the vehicle’s toughness as the pack then wouldn’t fit between the chassis rails. The first compromise, then, is that the Hilux EV is only good for 150 miles of range. Then again, its closest rival, the Isuzu D-Max EV, only gets 13 miles more out its 66.9kWh battery.

Fast charging at up to 150kW goes some way to quash range anxiety but ardent Hilux fans will point to the limited 1.6-tonne towing limit and 715kg payload as the major reasons for sticking with diesel power.

INTERIOR

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The inside gets a layout that takes after the latest Land Cruiser, albeit one that’s simpler and made of hard, workmanlike materials. Most of the important stuff, such as the climate control, heated seats and the off-road functions, are controlled with physical knobs and switches. One significant difference from the Land Cruiser is that the Hilux loses that car’s chunky gear selector in favour of a Lexus-style nubbin.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Numerical compromises aside, this is in no way a compromised truck in how it drives. Its ride comfort is far superior to a conventional Hilux, and the silence of the EV driveline compared with the agricultural 2.8-litre diesel brings a whole new dimension to off-roading when silently creeping through a forest.

On the road, the performance is blistering by pick-up truck standards and while there’s no official 0-60mph time, we reckon it’s comfortably under 10 seconds. Performance is unwavering all the way to the 87mph top speed.

The steering is perhaps too light for most pick-up truck drivers’ tastes and at slow speeds you need more turns of the wheel than expected. The Eco and Sport driving modes dial down power-hungry equipment and increase steering resistance respectively, but it’s the Multi-Terrain Select (MTS) that really enhances the Hilux’s off-road usability.

It may raise a few eyebrows to hear that the diff locks are gone, and so too is anything akin to a low-range ’box, but then electric motors have such fine control over their torque output that they would be redundant.

It’s now simply a case of picking the right mode for the terrain you’re on, be it rocks, sand, mud, dirt roads or over moguls. Each setting tells the AWD system, throttle and steering how they should behave. Truthfully, though, you don’t even have to select a mode, as Auto seems to deal with all surfaces admirably, taking just a few moments to interpret how to behave. There really is no excuse for getting stuck now.

VERDICT

Toyota Hilix electric review 10

The electric Hilux is not a pick-up for the purists and it comes with some worrying compromises in terms of range and load capacity, but it’s a truck that not only continues the legacy of the Hilux but also enhances it and future- proofs it with for zero emissions.