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Electric HiLux mainly bought by mining fleets
Nathan Ponchard
2026-07-06
TOYOTA Australia has confirmed it has taken over 300 orders for its new HiLux BEV as the electric dual-cab debuts across the brand’s 270-strong dealer network.
As expected, these sales are chiefly to mining and energy companies – BHP, Newcastle Coal, Acciona and Essential Energy.
While there has been a small amount of private-buyer interest in the HiLux BEV, Toyota Australia vice president sales, marketing and franchise operations John Pappas said the aim with this specialist vehicle was less about volume and more about helping fulfill Toyota Australia’s ‘30 by 30’ pledge (30 per cent of sales being BEV, PHEV or FCEV by 2030).
“We’ve taken 300 orders in total at the moment. That’s not a lot of orders in the scheme of things, but for HiLux BEV we knew when we were bringing that to market that it was for a very targeted customer type.
“So the fact that we’ve taken 300 orders is a very good sign, knowing that we tested this for 12 months with BHP before we brought it to market. And we had no downtime on the car,” he said, meaning the HiLux BEV was in continuous operation and did not require a pause for any breakdown repair work.
“It’s been quite a spread of customers. We mentioned a few of the (larger customers) today, and we have had already a small amount of private buyers place an order for the BEV,” he said.
When questioned by GoAuto about what a traditional HiLux buyer might think of the BEV, Toyota Australia senior manager product planning and pricing Ray Munday said: “In that vehicle, its target customer is very much the big fleets.
“The challenge for anything electrified is the energy density – being able to carry a big enough battery.
“Right now, the tech is so far away from being able to make a full electric HiLux that can actually do everything – it’s a long way off. Even (transitioning to a) solid-state (battery) is probably going to be a challenge,” said Mr Munday.
“What we have very strong feedback from our big fleets is that they need to decarbonise, because they have to report on their carbon. When you’ve got a big fleet, maybe not every vehicle has to be a diesel to do all of those jobs.
“And so with those big fleets like your big mining fleets, your big construction fleets, a lot of their work is back to base, but operating in quite a tough environment, so very hot, very dusty, very humid roads.
“So they need the capability of a ladder-frame, high-durability vehicle, but they’re not necessarily doing hundreds of kilometres every day, and at a high speed. So the BEV – that use case – can be satisfied.
“So that was a very targeted market. But we’ve also been very, very clear with any of our dealers, any customers, about what (the HiLux BEV) can do and what its limitations are. It’s not designed to be a mass-market-appeal product,” he said.
“Different fit-for-purpose requirements,” commented Mr Pappas.
“For example, a really metro tradie that’s using the vehicle for business only, short distance, moving between sites, like site managers, etcetera – there’s definitely cases there,” said Mr Munday.
“It’s really impressive to drive, but it’s not the HiLux that can do everything for everybody, and we’ve got to be very clear on that,” he said.
Electric range for the HiLux BEV pick-up is just 245km WLTP (and even less for the SR cab-chassis BEV, which lacks an WLTP figure because it is not sold in Europe).
The HiLux BEV also has a reduced payload of between 715 and 855kg, while its maximum braked towing capacity is 2000kg – significantly less than the 3500kg for the diesel.
As for a potential HiLux hybrid, Mr Munday remains unconvinced that it is the right powertrain for a ute.
“Efficiency hybrid is not developed to be working under very high loads for sustained times, which is what a commercial vehicle has to be. So at the moment, the diesel is the product that is, if you require the commercial vehicle, that is the powertrain that meets the fit-for-purpose,” he said.
The same scenario also applies to the HiAce van, which is currently turbo-diesel only.
But when GoAuto asked Mr Munday if Toyota Australia would put its hand up for a HiAce BEV should that vehicle become available, he said: “I think so, yes.”
At present, Toyota Australia is offering three variants in the HiLux BEV dual-cab line-up – an SR cab-chassis, SR pick-up and SR5 pick-up.
Each features a 59.2kWh lithium-ion battery housed between the frame rails and an electric motor at each end – 82.2kW/205.5Nm at the front and 129.3kW/268Nm at the rear – for a total system power of 144kW.
According to European figures, the 2420-2455kg HiLux BEV pick-up is good for 0-100km/h in a claimed 9.0 seconds and has a top speed of 140km/h.
Maximum DC charging rate is 125kW, meaning a 10-80 percent charge takes 30mins. A 10-100 per cent AC charge (at 10kW) takes 6.5 hours.