TOYOTA HILUX - Ninth generation of hard-as-nails truck introduces electric powertrain

Electrifying a pickup truck isn't an easy task, but Toyota has doubled down on its 'multi-energy' commitment by adding a battery-electric powertrain to one of its most prized assets, the Hilux, as it enters its ninth generation.

- GEORGE BARROW

Ford may have been first with the F-150 Lightning, but it had a chassis the size of a two-bed semi in which to put the battery; electrifying the 'one-tonne' pickup truck segment has posed significantly trickier 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 get in ICE form, with less payload, lower towing limits and a severely compromised range – as Maxus, Isuzu and KGM have discovered in the past few years.

We will go more into those compromises shortly, but there's one thing that Toyota has no intention of compromising, and that's its reputation – more specifically its reputation for making 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 Hilux for an electric future.

Visually it's a big departure from the incumbent eighth-generation Hilux, both inside and out. The front grille gets the aerodynamic treatment you would expect for an EV, with a minimum of 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 this model being all-new, Toyota hasn't 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 and the size hasn't changed, with a negligible 5mm decrease to its 5.3m overall length.