Toyota Electric Pickup : will it be an electrified Tacoma? A Tundra? Some blend of both?
A few years ago, the idea of an electric pickup truck seemed … unimaginable. Trucks are meant to haul, tow, and play in remote places where electric car chargers are hardly found. Fast forward to today, and we’re seeing a wave of electric trucks that will hit the market soon from names familiar (Ford with its F-150 and the return of the Hummer) and new (Tesla with its Cybertruck and Rivian with the R1T). Toyota is the latest big-name automaker to confirm plans to bring an electric truck to market, whether it’s in the form of a Tundra, Tacoma or both.
After using the stage at the Shanghai auto show to say it will bring hybrid and battery-electric powertrains to its truck lineup, where it stopped short of indicating which specific nameplates will have an electric variant, Toyota has debuted a full-blown concept vehicle previewing the EV truck. (The reveal took place at a broader, in-house Toyota event previewing several of the brand’s promised future EVs.) This being the first (okay, second) time we’ve heard the automaker speak about electrifying its trucks, consider it a big deal.
Both Chevrolet and Ford have confirmed that they are working on electric versions of the Silverado and F-150, respectively, so the idea of a full-size electric Toyota Tundra makes sense. Toyota’s full-size truck just entered its third generation, and it shouldn’t surprise us if the new pickup is equipped with some kind of electrification beyond its hybrid powertrain option.
However, it appears as though Toyota is sticking with a more modest size route like the electric Rivian R1T, a sort of in-betweener that’s bigger than a midsize truck but smaller than a full-size rig. Based on images of the Pickup EV concept Toyota has shared, and using a nearby small SUV for comparison, the truck looks big but not huge. It’s possible that it is nearly Tundra-sized, but again, while several styling elements on the show truck line up with those of the new Tundra, the EV’s bed is stubbier and so is the cab.
The Toyota Tacoma will also get a new generation soon, and electrification is surely part of its future. It remains to be seen whether the Taco will get a hybrid or all-electric powertrain (or both), but it will be one of the first midsize trucks in the U.S. to get some kind of electrification. Rumor has it that the next-get Tacoma will share its platform with the Tundra, so a sort of blend of the two trucks stirred up specifically for an electric variant might be what we’re looking at here.
Toyota also said that it plans to bring 15 new all-electric vehicles by 2025—many if not all of which were previewed at the same event as this Pickup EV—so an electric pickup truck could be here by then. Until we get closer to that date, though, for now we have only the vague promise that an electric truck from Toyota is coming, along with a vague idea of what it might look like.
This story was originally published April 19, 2021, and has since been updated with photos of Toyota’s Pickup EV concept and further details announced at a big event introducing many of the brand’s all-electric future vehicles.
