The all-electric workhorse will be assembled in Thailand, where pickup trucks account for more than 50 percent of all sales.
The new non-combustion Hilux will compete with the electric Isuzu D-Max, which will also be assembled in the Southeast Asian country. Toyota mentions that its upcoming electric truck will be primarily a Thailand affair, but is considering export markets.
Technical specifications were not disclosed during the interview, but Toyota previously said the range is "around 200 km" (124 miles). The one-off concept with a floor-mounted battery was a single-cab Hilux with a 4x2 setup and long bed, based on the model sold in Thailand.
Toyota Motor Asia executive vice president Pras Ganesh told Reuters that weight was a concern:
"The more range I have to put on it, the more battery I have to put on it, which means the weight of the vehicle also becomes significantly heavier, which means the load can be much less."
Of course, 200 km is less than ideal, especially since we're talking about a truck that typically carries a heavy load. Hopefully, Toyota's engineers will find a good balance between not packing in a huge battery that would limit practicality, but also not resorting to a small battery that would provide limited range.
Toyota has decided to make an EV conversion of the current generation Hilux, even though the pickup has been around for nearly a decade. This could mean that the existing model will stick around for a few more years. Alternatively, its replacement could be a major refresh rather than a true next-generation pickup, so the work done for the electric derivative could be carried over to the ninth-generation model.
Source: Reuters