Hydrogen-powered Toyota Hilux pick-up truck with 587 km of range revealed

Toyota has revealed a Hilux that runs on hydrogen in the United Kingdom. The development took over a year and funds were sourced from the British government through the Advanced Propulsion Centre. The pick-up truck was revealed at Toyota Manufacturing UK’s Burnaston car plant in Derby. It is important to note that this Hilux was just a prototype. Toyota has also announced that they will build nine more such prototypes by the end of this year.

The Hilux uses the powertrain from the Toyota Mirai, an electric saloon powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. The powertrain in Mirai has been used for almost ten years, proving its reliability. When driven, the fuel cell produces no tailpipe emissions other than pure water.

The Hilux uses three high-pressure fuel tanks and Toyota says that the pick-up truck has a claimed range of up to 587 km. The battery, which stores electricity produced on-board by the fuel cell, is positioned in the rear load deck. Because of this, there is no loss to the cabin space.

The current Hilux is powered by a 2.8-litre turbocharged diesel engine that produces 201 bhp of max power. The torque output stands at 420 Nm or 500 Nm, depending on whether the customer buys the 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission respectively.

In the Indian market, the Hilux is offered in two variants - Std and High. The automatic transmission is available only with the High variant. The prices of the Toyota Hilux start at ₹30.40 lakh and go up to ₹37.90 lakh. The Hilux competes against the Isuzuki D-Max V-Cross which is significantly more affordable as it is priced between ₹22.07 lakh and ₹27 lakh. All prices mentioned here are ex-showroom.