√Electric Toyota HiLux conversions due in Australia mid-year, 500 orders
A new factory in Melbourne will become the production base for conversion of the Toyota HiLux to battery-electric power.
Production of Australia’s first battery-electric Toyota HiLux is planned to begin on 1 June 2023 when technology start-up Roev begins conversion work on Australia’s top selling ute in a new factory in Melbourne.
Roev claims it already has orders for 500 vehicles and says it will have sufficient demand to hit its first-year production target of 1000 HiLux utes.
The conversion cost is estimated to be between $48,000 and $60,000 – in addition to the cost of the original ‘donor’ Toyota HiLux, which brings the total price to more than $100,000 per vehicle.
Roev says most of its confirmed orders are from commercial fleet companies, but a surprising number are to convert HiLuxes that are several years old.
“We’re on track to get it done. Our hope is to get more than 1000 a year and ramp it up. We’re aiming for 12 months and getting 1000 done,” the CEO and co-founder of Roev, Noah Wasmer told Drive.
The executive revealed Roev has changed its production site from the company’s headquarters in Queensland to the state of Victoria, as well as potential plans for an assembly site in Western Australia.
“We’re going to be doing it down in Epping in Melbourne. We’ve been looking at a couple of different sites and we’ve going to be announcing some progress in using a new facility,” Mr Wasmer told Drive.
“We’ve been starting to move a lot of our testing and development down there (Melbourne) in the last month or so.
“Getting the first orders in the door shows us where they are coming from. Most of the orders are coming from the east coast, so Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. They are also coming from the west (Western Australia), so if we get enough from there we will build a manufacturing site there.”
Roev is a start-up and announced its plan to electrify the HiLux last year, but Mr Wasmer revealed some of the initial details had changed as the company moved through testing and development towards production.
He said Roev was now looking at its battery-electric conversion as a kit, which means it will be easier to instal and could lead to a number of production sites.
“Our of goals was standardisation. So all the components fit together neatly and tightly. We can build the kits and then install them in less than a day,” Mr Wasmer said.
“We remove the existing engine, fuel tank and exhaust. Then we mount our battery, motor and electronics.”
Mr Wasmer also said Roev is moving into development of a Ford Ranger conversion.
“We’re looking to get the HiLux out and then the Ranger will be our next release. We have some in early development,” Mr Wasmer said.
“We’ve certainly working on it. We need to make sure all the eelectricnis in the car are fully integrated with our electronics.
“We’re focussed on the first orders for HiLux, but it’s the same hardware kit and it’s the software integration that changes (between vehicles).”
He confirmed there will be two conversion kits for the HiLux, a 4×2 system with a 64kWh battery priced at $47,990 and a 4×4 package with a 96kWh battery at $57,990. Apart from new utes, the conversion will be suitable for some older HiLuxes.
“We’ve going all the way back to HiLux 2016; that’s largely around the software integration,” he said.
“Most of our customers are coming in with vehicles that are two or three years old. That surprised us, but it does make sense. They are looking to get another four to five years out of a vehicle.
“If they are spending $800 to 1000 a month on petrol or diesel they could be break-even (with a conversion) at around 48 months.”
Mr Walsmer told Drive the latest series of tests for the Roev HiLux pointed to a claimed electric range that works for most small fleet companies.
“We’ve ben working very closely with fleets to ensure the vehicles out-perform expectations,” he said.
“We’re seeing 90 to 95 per cent of our user cases are less than 50 kilometres a day.
“On our smaller pack we’re getting 250 to 300 kilometres, and with the larger pack we can hit 400.
“Right now we’re testing with different trays and kits to get real-world information.”
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