Toyota Tests Electric Hilux for Thai Market

Toyota is road testing the battery-electric Hilux Revo pickup truck in Thailand ahead of manufacturing the vehicle in the country by the end of 2025.

Reuters reports a test mule has been seen running around Thai roads since April in a nation where pickups form nearly half of all vehicle sales. At the moment, its Hilux base vehicle is sold in many different guises for both commercial and private users, such as the Hilux Champ outback camper truck (pictured).

The move is being seen as Toyota reacting to the spread of Chinese BEVs into Asian markets including Thailand where it has long established production facilities.

Toyota is testing the vehicle in several varied temperature regions to ensure its battery management systems are robust enough for the vehicle to come to market. It is likely to face additional competition from fellow Japanese automaker, Isuzu, which is said to be planning an electric D-Max truck for the Thai market.

Pras Ganesh, executive vice-president of Toyota Motor Asia, tells Reuters: “Our intention is to be producing the Hilux BEV over here. The more range I have to put on it, the more battery I have to put on it, which means the weight of the vehicle also becomes significantly heavier, which means the loading can be much less. So 'Is it going to meet the customer's usage needs?' is always our biggest issue. We are always trying to understand what they do.”