Confirmed! Toyota HiLux, LandCruiser, and more are going hybrid

A senior Toyota Australia executive has confirmed the brand’s entire range, aside from GR performance models, will be electrified by the end of this decade, signalling the hybridisation of Australia’s most popular car.

With the Toyota HiLux ute set to at least go hybrid, and possibly even fully electric, by 2030, it means Toyota’s already impressive share of hybrid sales will increase dramatically over the course of the next few years.

Speaking to media at Toyota’s Australian headquarters in Melbourne, vice president of marketing and sales Sean Hanley said the brand’s future plans for electrification included 30 new EVs by 2030, with three to launch in Australia by 2026.

“By 2030, Toyota globally plans to release 30 new EVs resulting in a comprehensive line-up of electric passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles with at least 3.5 million sales a year,” he said.

“In the same timeframe, we expect to have an electrified version of every model in our local range, excluding performance cars, and we will continue to evaluate all EVs for this market as they’re made available.”

Toyota’s hybrid cars made up 31.5 per cent of its 2022 sales, but Mr Hanley says the brand will see that rise to above 50 per cent by 2025, then even higher by 2030.

The announcement comes after some hints from Toyota globally that the HiLux is going electrified soon, with the brand unveiling an electric HiLux concept in Thailand recently. Toyota Australia is currently investigating the possibilities for something like this to become a reality locally.

We also know the next LandCruiser Prado is set to go hybrid with the four-cylinder petrol-hybrid engine from the just-released Crown as its own powertrain.

The Toyota HiLux ute is set to at least go hybrid, and possibly even fully electric, by 2030.

“It makes sense that the LandCruiser, the Prado, the HiLux and other commercial vehicles are going to have to adopt some sort of electrification as we get closer to that point,” Mr Hanley has previously told CarsGuide.

While performance models like the GR Supra and GR86 are separate from Toyota’s plan to electrify every model by 2030, Toyota’s sales split for models means by 2030 it's possible very few of its sales will be purely internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.

Mr Hanley said he wanted to set the record straight, however, that the brand is not “anti-BEV” and that he doesn’t believe hybrid is the only answer to future mobility and carbon reduction.

“We don't just hang our hat on hybrid, but we use our hybrid experiences of pointing to the future. 

“So we're not sitting here saying ‘you know what, we're all hybrid. That's the only thing we're gonna do’. We're actually not saying that.

Whilst Toyota doesn't have concrete plans on anything beyond the Mirai, opportunities with hydrogen are still being explored.

“What we're saying is that right now it’s practical, affordable, there's no infrastructure and it's doing something for the environment today in volume. You can’t ignore 31.5 per cent of your sales.”

Hybrid and BEV aren’t the only two options for the future of Toyota’s commercial vehicles, however, with Mr Hanley having told CarsGuide that hydrogen is also on the cards as a future power source for traditionally diesel-powered vehicles.

“We see it as a big future. And, whilst we don't have concrete plans on anything beyond the Mirai as I sit here today, we're certainly exploring opportunities with hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen conversion. 

“All of these things are on our agenda of testing and trialling to see the practicalities. The only thing stopping hydrogen right now, in my opinion, is infrastructure.”