Toyota HiLux mild-hybrid diesel debuts with rally show run in Africa

Toyota Australia won’t call the mild-hybrid diesel HiLux ute a hybrid, but a prototype that completed a demonstration run in Kenya last week isn’t hiding its electrified boost.

The mild-hybrid diesel version of the top-selling Toyota HiLux ute has made its debut at a World Rally Championship event in Africa ahead of first Australian showroom arrivals next year.

Toyota Australia this week announced plans to add mild-hybrid assistance to select HiLux diesel dual-cabs in the first half of next year – promising to trim fuel use by 10 per cent, well down on the 40 to 50 per cent savings found on Toyota models with traditional hybrid systems.

But Toyota in Africa quietly spoiled the party last week with a demonstration run of a prototype example in Kenya, ahead of the World Rally Championship race there over the weekend – which was won by a Toyota.

While Toyota Australia will not call the mild-hybrid HiLux a hybrid – protecting the reputation of its petrol-electric hybrid cars and SUVs – Toyota in Africa is not hiding the connection with unmissable ‘HYBRID’ stickers down the sides of the prototype.

MORE: Toyota HiLux mild-hybrid diesel confirmed for Australia, just don’t call it a hybrid

“To achieve carbon neutrality, I believe it is important to do “what we can do right now, immediately” according to the local environment,” Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said in a media statement.

“We think what we can do in Africa is to increase [hybrids], so I asked Juha [Kankkunen, four-time World Rally champion who drove the HiLux prototype], one of the legendary drivers that everybody knows, to drive the car to let as many people as possible know about it.”

Toyota says the mild-hybrid HiLux is a more “realistic and immediate option” for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions in Africa than a purely-electric vehicle, as electric-car charging infrastructure is scarce – and many areas in Africa do not even have a stable electricity supply.

“Even in relatively well-developed regions of Africa, such as Kenya or even in South Africa, there are some areas where electricity supply is unstable,” the company claims.

“[Mild-hybrids] are an important option for immediate CO2 reduction. They do not require new equipment or power supply, can use existing petrol stations as it is, and can reduce CO2 emissions.”

The mild-hybrid HiLux prototype on display in Kenya is the previous iteration of the Rogue model, with the front-end specific to this variant, but without the wide wheel track and flares now standard in Australia. Oddly, it is marketed for this demo as a GR Sport model.

The 48-volt mild-hybrid technology planned for the Toyota HiLux combines the 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission with a small 48-volt battery, “electric motor-generator” and “other components.”

In addition to the modest fuel saving it is claimed to provide “improved driveability and reduced noise, vibration and harshness.”

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