Toyota continues work on the battery version of its Hilux truck announced last winter. A private event has just been held in Australia where the most devoted clients of the company could preview a fully functional prototype of the pickup, reports CarBuzz.
According to the publication, the manufacturer pays great attention to the feedback of Australian truck drivers, who tend to be particularly demanding. After the event, Toyota said most major business reps who had a look at the prototype praised its performance and said it felt like a finalized production car despite still technically being a concept.
The company also emphasized that the Hilux EV was not specifically envisioned as a vehicle for serious off-roading. It has primarily been designed as a pickup for the asphalt roads and urban use, with only modest off-road applications in mind.
The pre-production testing will now continue in Thailand, where Toyota plans to create a small corporate fleet of electric trucks. The purpose in uncertain, but it sounds like the company wants to rent them out to private customers and businesses.
All technical parameters remain secret. On the outside, the Hilux EV looks the same as its petrol counterpart until you notice the solid slab where the front grille used to be and a charging port on the front left fender.