Thread: Hybrid Hilux announced

Well this will stir things up! Same tow rating (as same engine) but will use less fuel around city and less on any road where speed varys. Ideal weekday and weekend vehicle? Kind of pushes back on the buy small car push. How will they tax and RUC a diesel hybrid? This might be the trigger to RUC on petrol instead of at pump? Petrol hybrids use less petrol so pay less RUC than plain petrol equivalent
https://www.toyota.co.nz/about-toyota/toyota-news/2023/june/hybrid-hilux-confirmed-for-new-zealand-early-2024/?fbclid=IwAR2Q3Qw19FojOxJsLoUw5u_aHY6NPHCiEUkjR46q xWH1UR1Smef9gDlmfFI

Driving a half-loaded ute around all the time will chew the crap outta tyres, suspension and joints. It won't have the same tow rating, as the tow rating is a factor of loaded weight over the rear axle and a ute carting a half pallet of battery bits around will not have the same load capacity as an empty ICE only ute. It's actually a pain in the arse, as if you are towing the max 3500Kg behind your ute you basically can't even chuck a spare 20L in the back with some models.

....So for the sake of saying you are driving a hybrid, your ute will return similar fuel consumption to a standard ute with 250-500kg of cement permanently in the rear tray. Whats not to like??

Oh...and its a hybrid, not a PHEV, so there's that.

Oh, and its 48 volt. Thats sooo last decade. E MTBs run 48 volt. Proper Hybrids run 200-300 volt systems

Originally Posted by XR500

....So for the sake of saying you are driving a hybrid, your ute will return similar fuel consumption to a standard ute with 250-500kg of cement permanently in the rear tray. Whats not to like??

Oh...and its a hybrid, not a PHEV, so there's that.

Oh, and its 48 volt. Thats sooo last decade. E MTBs run 48 volt. Proper Hybrids run 200-300 volt systems

providing you have the appropriate amperage on board you can turn 48v into whatever voltage you want. pretty much its a dc-ac-dc converter. heck i can turn 12v dc into 22kV (or more) if i want to. the conversion is pretty efficient but just like 12v dc to to 240v ac inverters they draw on average 20A dc input to 1 amp ac output

Lots of haters on Stuff already too. https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/132...o-nz-next-year
I really don't get the hate. The new tech can make vehicles perform better so why are most so negative? The Highlander hybrid fuel use is much less than the petrol was so why is there thinking the hybrid Hilux won't get similar improvement? Everyone complains the EVs and hybrids can't tow (me included as hybrid Highlander doesn't have enough tow rating for us) but this one will be able tow the same as the normal diesel, so that issue is no longer there. It won't save fuel while heavy towing but for most thats not majority of kms, its minority of kms. Sure it's not PHEV (yet?) but bound to use less fuel when not heavily loaded or when in stop go slow down speed up traffic. Also can't understand the weight complaints either as man people put bull bars and roof tents then cruise the city streets

If you check the weight details on towing, to get the max rating on the rear axle and rest of the weight distribution it requires the ute to be basically unloaded. Mine wears a canopy, ute drawer and tray liner setup along with necessary crap like a fire extinguisher and basic tools - circa 200Kg over empty weight and that means I can't wear the full required downforce of 350Kg on the towball without going over max loading on the rear axle. Likely the same with the roof tent boys - so unless the hybrid battery is tiny or it's a 2wd vehicle with the battery forwards load sharing between the axles there's going to be a consequence for weight somewhere.

I don’t really get Hybrids, you still have to put petrol in it, you still have to service the engine and you have an expensive battery that will slowly be degrading.
Modern petrol and diesel vehicles are pretty fuel efficient these days.

Looks epic especially with using the battery for running shit off aswel

Originally Posted by XR500

....So for the sake of saying you are driving a hybrid, your ute will return similar fuel consumption to a standard ute with 250-500kg of cement permanently in the rear tray. Whats not to like??

Oh...and its a hybrid, not a PHEV, so there's that.

Oh, and its 48 volt. Thats sooo last decade. E MTBs run 48 volt. Proper Hybrids run 200-300 volt systems

This would be classified as a very 'mild' hybrid, basically a beefed up stop-start system that allows a small degree of energy recovery in stop-go driving and coasting down hills. It will probably take 10-20% off the fuel consumption at most. The good news is the battery pack would be small and only add circa 50-75kg of weight that would be easy to package between the frame rails.

I am really not sure how you would configure it so as not to completely stuff the diesel particulate filter system with stop/starting the engine all the time, so it's probably false economy in the long run for the owner but will help Toyota's "fleet economy" as a corporate. If you hate the emissions gear in modern diesels and the grief they give, you would reaaaaalllly dislike this I think.

I'm a mechanical engineer with an interest in these things, and there is a good reason nobody has yet done a diesel hybrid.

Originally Posted by uk_exile

Lots of haters on Stuff already too. https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/132...o-nz-next-year
I really don't get the hate. The new tech can make vehicles perform better so why are most so negative? The Highlander hybrid fuel use is much less than the petrol was so why is there thinking the hybrid Hilux won't get similar improvement? Everyone complains the EVs and hybrids can't tow (me included as hybrid Highlander doesn't have enough tow rating for us) but this one will be able tow the same as the normal diesel, so that issue is no longer there. It won't save fuel while heavy towing but for most thats not majority of kms, its minority of kms. Sure it's not PHEV (yet?) but bound to use less fuel when not heavily loaded or when in stop go slow down speed up traffic. Also can't understand the weight complaints either as man people put bull bars and roof tents then cruise the city streets

Data is coming out that is starting to show that hybrids (and EVs), due to battery/electrics weight, more often do not attain the fuel savings they claim, do more damage to roads, and wear tyres faster with cascading impacts on carbon usage and pollution. Layered on top of manufacturing pollution/carbon costs, battery lifespan etc they are not as rosy as some people think they are. Not to mention they 'where does your juice come from' aspect.

My questions is.. river crossings - how will they go!?

Originally Posted by gonetropo

providing you have the appropriate amperage on board you can turn 48v into whatever voltage you want. pretty much its a dc-ac-dc converter. heck i can turn 12v dc into 22kV (or more) if i want to. the conversion is pretty efficient but just like 12v dc to to 240v ac inverters they draw on average 20A dc input to 1 amp ac output

Yeah, nah imho. The higher the storage voltage, the easier it is to get the ponies to come and do the real work when you call on them...as in amps. Thats why Teslas (ssshhhh, I know what you think of them) store energy at around 350 volts. A 48 volt storage medium will require the amps to be 8 times higher than a 350 volt storage medium, when you want a shit ton of torque on hand. Then the copper wiring, bus bars etc etc need to be 8 times fatter etc etc, making things heavier and dare I say, get warmer.

And while I am not keen on wagons set up to take on the Darien gap being used as shopping trolleys, the batteries will generally outweigh all that paraphernalia.

Another big negative in my view, is the significant reluctance on behalf of the EV manufacturers to get involved in the whole-of-life battery management. They simply sell you them, then wipe their hands of the half tonne toxic suitcase bomb sitting underneath their vehicle. While robots were able to build the batteries, the process to safely dismantle them at the end of their life has not yet been mastered by man or machine with any great amount of regularity.

Originally Posted by Jukes

My questions is.. river crossings - how will they go!?

I think the failed hybrid river crossing up the Motu 6 months ago answers that

One word. No.

Stick with my land cruiser thanks.

Can’t see too many farmers getting excited about a hybrid ute. Maybe a few city dwellers might be keen