Hilux will be Toyota's first electric truck

Demand for electric vehicles is likely to cool, but Toyota is moving ahead with plans to launch its first electric pickup truck.

In an interview with Reuters released on Thursday, Plus Ganesh, Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Asia, said that the electric version of the Hilux Global medium-sized pickup truck will be in production by the end of 2025.

Production will be processed at a plant in Thailand where Toyota will build the current gas, diesel and mild hybrid versions of the Hilux for both local sales and export.

ganesh said the electric Hilux will primarily target Thailand, where pickups account for more than 50% of vehicle sales, but is also considering exporting to additional markets.

Toyota first unveiled the concept of the electric Hilux in 2022. There was no official specification for the concept named Hilux Revo BEV, but Toyota has been using it for testing purposes since it was revealed.

Toyota has alluded to the electric version of Tacoma in the past and is rolling out the concept in 2021. Toyota's midsize truck for America could also produce an electric option at some point.

Small, lifestyle-oriented electric trucks may also be in the works. Toyota unveiled the EPU Concept, a compact electric truck ready for production, at the 2023 Tokyo Motor Show.

Toyota plans to add more EVs in the coming years, but will continue to offer combustion engines, especially hybrids. Hybrid car sales have soared over the past 1 year, helping Toyota reach record sales. In the 3rd quarter, sales of hybrid vehicles increased by 31% to 370 million units, bringing the total sales to 10.31 million units. This is the first time that the total number of vehicles has topped 10 million units.