Toyota Teases an Electric Pickup, While Rivian Sets a New Bar

Casimiro here. As a longtime fan and owner of Toyota trucks (rigs have included third-gen 4Runner, first-gen Sequoia, 200 series Land Cruiser, and GX470), it’s been exceptionally disappointing to see the automaker fumble the transition to a post-fossil fuels world. Maybe, maybe, it will see the light. A new concept (sigh) truck announcement was released into the wild not too long ago showing an all-electric Hilux pickup for the Australian market. Details are…slim. About all Toyota says is that it will be built and tested in the real world, with two wheel drive (frowny face) for urban markets (huh?), and short range (WTF face). Hello, McFly? Americans spent $2.2 billion on electric trucks in 2022. Stop teasing.

Meanwhile, less than a week ago, a Rivian R1T electric truck piloted by Lilly Macaruso and Alexandra Anderson became the first EV to win the Rebelle Rally. The all-female off-road rally is super old school: Teams navigate 1,500 miles across California and Nevada using only paper maps and compasses. (No phones are allowed, and they’re effectively cut off from the outside world for seven days.) Remember, it’s a rally, not a race—each day, there were 20 or so checkpoints, some with time constraints. There were also enduro sections where teams had to hit and maintain an average speed. By all accounts, it’s both grueling and a blast.

Word by Stephen Casimiro.