2023 Toyota HiLux electric concept: Quick drive

The ute you see here is an electric HiLux, except it isn't really. Yes, it's a current-generation HiLux converted with an EV drivetrain, but it isn't what you'll walk into a Toyota showroom and buy. At least not yet, and not like this.

The car you see here is a product of Toyota Thailand, the factory that builds the HiLux for Australia. It was first shown in December 2022, and despite having been around for almost a year, Toyota is incredibly cagey about the specifics of this EV and what makes it tick.

In terms of what Aussie buyers love (or at least what Toyota Australia provides us), this concept is all wrong. It's not the 4x4 dual-cab that tops the sales charts here; in fact, it's the opposite, with a single-cab body and rear-wheel drive. It even wears a ute tub, a configuration not available from Toyota Australia in conjunction with a single-cab body.

But it is a proof of concept. Despite fast approaching the end of its current generation, Toyota has been showing that this old dog has plenty of new tricks in the form of the heavily revised GR Sport and Rogue variants, a mild-hybrid model on the way, and concept versions of the EV and a hydrogen fuel cell prototype.

Toyota is justifiably proud of its work on the electric HiLux, and in something of a world-first, invited Australian media for a quick spin in the HiLux BEV while it's in Australia being shown to fleet buyers and Toyota top brass.

Given the current-generation HiLux has been in production since 2015, and the typical lifespan of utes like this runs to around 10 years, don't expect to see one of these in your local Toyota showroom.

An electric HiLux isn't entirely off the cards, but the likelihood of this current generation getting the full EV treatment is incredibly slim, especially in Australia. That's not to say Toyota won't build the car you see here – a version of the HiLux BEV is planned for a very limited trial production run to take part in a pilot program in Thailand.

That production run will see electric HiLuxes put into duty as songthaews or baht busses – the ute or light-truck-based taxis you see on Thai city streets with two rows of seating where the cargo would normally go. It's a use case that suits the Thai market, but that feels worlds apart from what we might expect here.

Given that the current HiLux is the age it is, modifying the structure and drivetrain for a production-line run doesn't likely stack up in the eyes of Toyota's accounts department. For the next HiLux, things may be different.

We already know the Toyota Tacoma will switch to Toyota's TNGA-F ladder chassis in its newest generation, that's the chassis underneath the LandCruiser 300 Series and Prado too. None of those have an EV version yet, but future-proofing is a designed-in aspect of the new architecture, and a hybrid version of the new Prado shows that at least some thought has gone into accommodating electrification.

How that shakes out for an EV HiLux, if at all, remains to be seen.

With Toyota as Australia's top-selling 4x2 ute, and a huge presence on company fleets, it's possible that a short-range, two-wheel-drive EV HiLux could find success here. It's the kind of vehicle that would work for local deliveries, council maintenance crews, mail runs, and on-site services at road projects and construction sites.

In terms of aspirational appeal, a dual-cab, dual-motor HiLux would likely be a bigger hit with private and small business buyers. In order to maintain the ute's all-purpose versatility, any electric version would likely need a big step-up in terms of range, towing ability and off-road suitability – something this first toe in the water doesn't deliver.

But never say never. One of the vehicles revealed at Toyota's EV extravaganza was the familiar shape of a dual-cab ute, hinting that there may be something much better on the way.

I wasn't sure if the new HiLux would feel haphazardly cobbled together. It's a driveable concept car, but concepts very rarely are built to a driveable standard.

Prototype vehicles often have missing interior parts, mismatched driver control systems, immovable suspension, or restrictions on speed. The HiLux BEV has none of this.

Apart from a 3D-printed steering column shroud and black tape over the steering wheel function buttons, the electric HiLux concept has a fully functional and very familiar interior. The only key difference being the gear selector, which uses a rotary dial borrowed from the BZ4X electric SUV – push and twist right to go forwards, push and twist left to go backwards, hit the 'P' button for park. Simple.

Of course, once you hit the start button there's no noise. Just a 'Ready' light in the instrument cluster. The dials themselves are fully functional. There's a trip computer with a scaled-down set of functions and displays, a speedo on the right, and a huge E to F charge meter on the left.

Progress is smooth and gentle. Around the Toyota Autodrome, Toyota's own internal demo track at the former Altona production facility, the instructions are pretty clear: don't bin this expensive one-off.

In saying that, I got the chance to open the taps a few times. No official timing or testing took place, but 0–100km/h fell into the eight-to-nine second range (using the scientifically proven 'one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand' method of timing). The HiLux BEV doesn't feel outrageously powerful or torquey, but it can chatter the rear tyres if you give it too much welly on the way out of a corner.

During our drive brake regen wasn't available – when you lift off the accelerator, the HiLux Bev just kept coasting. I was informed that a regen mode is technically feasible, but it was unclear if the feature simply hadn't been set up at all in the car, or just wasn't available for our drive.

For what it's worth, it feels like a better option for a load-capable car to simply coast, rather than shifting the weight of the load without driver intervention.

Without shaking up the general 'feel' of a HiLux, the BEV has a settled ride without the jitters normally found in an unladen 'Lux. The steering feels light but similarly paced as you wind on lock, and the acceleration is respectable, with the biggest advantage being the lack of diesel noise and vibration.

When asked about the electric drivetrain, Toyota's answer was a firm 'no comment'. This applies to almost every aspect of the info you as a curious consumer might want to know. Battery capacity, battery chemistry, charging speed, motor power and torque are all blanketed under the 'we can't say' banner.

At a previous media event, the HiLux BEV was described as "a battery that's probably similar in capacity to a BZ4X" by Toyota sales and marketing head, Sean Hanley. That suggests a capacity similar to the 71.4kWh of Toyota's first electric SUV in Australia.

It's a safe bet that Toyota hasn't created bespoke mechanicals for this car, but where the battery and motor come from within the Toyota empire is a bit of a mystery. Toyota's local press handlers were adamant that the bonnet not be opened and that no photos be taken of the underside of the car.

I can tell you that glancing through the wheel wells up front reveals that, aside from a handful of mechanical components (like the brake booster and steering rack), it's mostly fresh air under there. At the rear, the single motor is suspended in a De Dion axle held up by leaf springs at each side. The biggest upgrade being the addition of disc brakes in place of a regular HiLux's rear drums.

The battery itself is bolted up under the chassis crossmembers, hanging a little lower than the underside of a two-wheel-drive HiLux usually would, but not so low as to to be vulnerable or in the way. Shrouding over the battery, which runs from under the passenger compartment all the way to the bespoke rear motor cradle, gives no indication of how big the battery might actually be.

Other changes include an electric park brake and electric power steering (with no constantly running engine to power a regular hydraulic system). The front left guard houses a CCS charge port, and the grille has a closed-off design, but the body itself is largely unchanged.

Toyota hasn't given an official range based on WLTP or NEDC testing, the usual protocols you'd expect to see published for an electric vehicle sold in Australia. Internally Toyota refers to the driving range as 'around 200 kilometres', but this isn't an officially indexed benchmark.

There's no detailed consumption info in the HiLux BEV's trip computer, but there is a distance-to-empty readout. At the start of our drive, with a full battery it suggested I had 250km of potential range to play with. A few laps of Toyota's test circuit didn't put any significant dent in that, so it's impossible to say how that might stack up in the real world.

Toyota's first fully-electric car in Australia will be the BZ4X medium SUV, which has suffered some setbacks on the way to market, but is due in early 2024.

Toyota's history of EVs runs back to 1992 when Toyota first officially established an EV Development Division to meet California's planned 1998 Zero Emission Vehicle regulations.

In 1993, Toyota launched 42 Townace EVs and an electric version of the Crown for use by government departments in Japan. In 1995, an electric version of the RAV4 was used in the world's first EV race, but it wasn't until 1997 the RAV4 EV was launched in California.

Toyota shifted focus to the accelerated roll-out of mainstream hybrid models and low-volume development of fuel cell systems, but then in December 2021 Toyota declared a huge electric vehicle push. Over a dozen vehicles across various segments were shown at the announcement, although launch timing for each model and final specifications and designs will be rolled out between now and the end of the decade as each comes online.

Before a fully-electric HiLux becomes available, expect to see hybrid models join the range. Toyota has already shown a version of the current HiLux with a mild-hybrid system – but to avoid confusion with cars like the Corolla and Camry hybrids, which use a much 'bigger' electric system, Toyota is unlikely to use 'hybrid' as a marketing term in Australia. Instead, expect to see Toyota Kinetic Assist used to define this model when it arrives.

Until we get hands-on with the mild-hybrid HiLux, it's hard to say what impact it will have on fuel use or driveability.

Buyers who must have a fully-electric ute right now can opt for the dual-cab 4x2 LDV eT60 that offers a claimed 330km of driving range priced from $92,990. Ford has also announced a plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger, with 45km of electric range, due in Australia in late 2024 with prices and equipment to be confirmed closer to arrival.