Is Australia’s favourite ute going electric? Toyota unveils Hilux Revo BEV concept

An electric version of Australia’s favourite ute, the Toyota Hilux, has been unveiled by the Japanese automotive giant as part of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Toyota Motor Thailand.

The Hilux Revo BEV was unveiled at the Bangkok event last week by Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda as a battery electric version of its hugely popular pick-up truck, “designed to support carbon neutrality and a better environment for all.”

Toyoda, who took several opportunities in his speech to justify his company’s slow and sceptical approach to automotive electrification, did not reveal any technical, production or timing details for the electric ute, other than to note that it is closely based on the single cab variant of the existing internal-combustion HiLux.

But the idea of an electric Hilux has certainly captured the world’s attention.

As well as being declared the best ute in the world at the 6th International Pick-Up Award last year, the Hilux is enormously popular in Australia, topping national sales charts for seven years in a row.

Taking into account current huge demand for electric utes in Australia, coupled with the popularity of the Hilux ute, it’s safe to say an electric version would fare well on the local market.

Such is the demand for electric utes in Australia at the moment that electric conversion start-up Roev, launched by two former senior Atlassian executives, is starting out with an exclusive focus on conversions of the Hilux, as well as the Ford Ranger.

Roev has committed to converting 1,000 utes in the first 12 months of the program, and will open orders from interested fleet managers from December this year.

Conversion aside, Australia has struggled to get its hands on electric utes of any brand, with strong demand in other more EV-forward countries being served first.

And judging by some of Toyoda’s comments at the launch of the concept last week, it seems unlikely we’ll see any Hilux BEVs on Australian soil any time soon.

“I am often criticised in the press because I won’t declare that the automotive industry should commit 100% to BEV,” he said at the Bangkok celebration.

“I believe we need to be realistic about when society will be able to fully adopt Battery Electric Vehicles and when our infrastructure can support them at scale.

“I think BEVs are just going to take longer to become mainstream than the media would like us to believe. And frankly, BEVs are not the only way to achieve the world’s carbon neutrality goals.

“I still believe Hydrogen is as promising a technology for our future as BEV,” Toyoda said.