The diesel destroyer? Plug-in hybrid Toyota HiLux would offer a 200km EV driving range, without sacrificing capability, to take the fight to the Ford Ranger

Toyota says work is underway on a new generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles for Australia that would transform the technology from the “ultimate inconvenience” to the “ultimate convenience”.

That’s the word from the brand’s local VP of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley, who concedes he is unconvinced by the current plug-in hybrid technology available.

But he says he sees “renewed engagement” among Australian shoppers on the horizon, saying the brand is working on plug-in hybrid technology that would deliver a 200km driving range, and that will likely appear in Toyota’s rugged range, including HiLux.

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“If you had asked me three, four, five years ago, I was reluctant, because I don't think it's a convenient technology,” Mr Hanley says.

“However, having said that, that was under the condition that you got very little, or no, BEV (battery electric vehicle) power alone from a PHEV.

“However, battery technology evolves, and it's evolving quickly. If we can get to a situation where a PHEV has the capability of doing 200-plus kilometres on BEV alone — so in other words, if I've got a HiLux I can just go around town, I can run that on BEV and be carbon-neutral pretty well, providing I'm using renewable energy to do it.

“Now the issue is of course can it tow? Can it take a heavy load? Well, to be able to flick a switch and say, well, for those moments where I'm going out off-road or for those moments where I need to tow a heavy load, I've got the convenience of going to a normal hybrid engine and I can get 500 or 600 kilometres and it's convenient, then I see a role for PHEV in that space.

“I think that's some years away, to be honest, that battery technology. But when it comes, PHEVs will have a renewed engagement with the market because they'll go from what I call the ultimate inconvenience to the ultimate convenience.”

Asked directly whether Toyota is working on a 200km-range PHEV, Mr Hanley replied: “Of course we are. And so that to us would represent two things. It's practical (and) it can do things that the customer wants it to do.”

Toyota’s new PHEV technology is some way off yet, though, with no plans to launch a plug-in hybrid model in Australia until at least 2025, with the new battery-technology required to deliver a 200km driving range further away still.

That hands advantage to the Ford Ranger, which will launch its first PHEV model in Australia in early 2025.