Toyota is preparing to demo its hydrogen-powered Toyota Hilux prototype. There are now 10 UK-built examples of the fully-electrified pickup, and the Japanese carmaker reckons it’s good for 600km of range.
That’s thanks to three 2.6kg high-pressure hydrogen tanks buried inside the indestructible Hilux’s ladder-frame chassis. That’s a total capacity of 7.8kg.
The fuel-cell stack—made up of 330 polymer electrolyte cells—sits on the hydrogen truck’s front axle and drives 180hp and 299Nm of torque via an e-motor on the rear axle. Size-wise, the extra-cab pickup is 5.3 meters long and 1.88 meters wide, just like the production version (which notably has 201hp and 498Nm torque).
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Since hydrogen is lighter than the batteries of a BEV version would be, this Hilux should be able to better cope with higher payloads and plenty of towing, according to Toyota.
It’s been developed using technology from the Toyota Mirai. That’s the one that broke its own record in 2021 traveling 1,340km without refueling. Toyota tells us it’s had to repackage the components to apply the modular system to more than cars. That might explain why this hydrogen version isn’t quite as powerful as a 2.8-liter diesel one.
This is just a testing phase of Toyota’s hydrogen Hilux development program. Five of the 10 prototypes are being put through their paces in real-world driving situations. The other five are off to do media appearances, including one at the Paris Olympics in the summer.
Toyota has been a long-standing member of Camp Hydrogen-Is-the-Fuel-of-the-Future (although it’s recently developed that into a multi-pathway something-or-other strategy). It has big ambitions to be at the top of the mass-production hydrogen tree by 2030. But if you thought the electric charging infrastructure was bad, ask yourself: When was the last time you passed a hydrogen refueling station?
More photos of the hydrogen-powered Toyota Hilux:
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
