New 'tough and agile' Toyota Hilux revealed

An electric Hilux is here for the first time - and hydrogen is coming soon

By Matt Bird / Monday, 10 November 2025 / Loading comments

Everyone makes a pickup these days, but only Toyota makes a Hilux. There aren’t many other nameplates on four wheels so famously associated with durability, robustness and no-nonsense ability; you don’t get to create an ‘Invincible’ trim level (and people accept it) without a good few years of being unburstable. So this latest, ninth-generation Hilux (one more than the Porsche 911, in fact) doesn’t attempt to rewrite the pickup rules. It’s just aiming to be a better one than what came before, as well as the glut of alternatives.

This will also be the most electric Hilux there’s ever been. As part of Toyota’s multi-pathway ultimate people pleaser approach, and as previewed last year, there will be a hydrogen fuel cell Hilux launched at about the same time as BMW’s hydrogen X5 (the two having partnered on FCEV tech for more than a decade now.) It will sit alongside the familiar 2.8 diesel (which has some 48v mild hybrid assistance) plus a new Hilux EV, which is part of the range from launch.

While Toyota is keen to point out that battery power has been achieved ‘without sacrificing any of the model’s renowned Quality, Durability and Reliability (heaven forbid), the specs sound modest by electric car standards: it’s expected to have 1,600kg of towing capacity, 150 miles of range and 59.2kWh of battery in its belly. No doubt it’ll reach the end of the earth as any Hilux might, complete with the same 700mm wading depth as a combustion truck, but with less torque than the diesel, the Hilux BEV looks like being a small seller in the range. Let’s see.

As for the 2.8, it hasn’t changed much given the introduction of mild hybrid tech earlier this year; Toyota says that other engines will be offered ‘in Eastern European markets only, ensuring regional customer needs are catered for’, so there really will be a Hilux for everybody. Regional variation even extends to steering; the Hiluxes sold here will get electric power steering, to make it easier to drive in the city and off the beaten track, but once more those Hiluxes in Eastern Europe will get a hydraulic setup. Strange. Maybe a committed bunch of Hilux purists out there…

Toyota suggests the Hilux redesign is ‘tough and agile’, so the front end gets an angrier appearance (complete with the old school ‘TOYOTA’ font) and the electric truck gets its own look. The bigger refresh has been inside, said to benefit from a Land Cruiser-style ‘all-round elevation in sensory quality’. So hopefully everything will feel, look and maybe even smell a bit nicer; screens are now up to 12.3-inches for both driver and dash, there are more USB ports than before and safety features are everywhere, from Low Speed Acceleration Suppression to Safe Exist Assist. More will follow over the air in time; told you this was a throughout modern makeover of the Hilux.

The new truck will only be offered as a double cab (even in Eastern Europe), because that’s overwhelmingly the most popular model. Expect info on UK prices and availability some time in the new year, probably with an increase over the current £44k that an Invincible kicks off at. Soon after that will surely follow another Arctic Trucks overhaul…