Hydrogen Toyota HiLux FCEV confirmed for 2028

TOYOTA Motor Corporation Australia (TMCA) is readying itself to push hydrogen fuel further into the mainstream, with a fuel-cell (FCEV) version of its new HiLux ute now earmarked for a 2028 release.

If the ‘hydrogen HiLux’ stays on schedule, the FCEV would round out a diverse HiLux line, sitting alongside a largely carryover 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder, plus a battery electric (BEV) version due next year.

But the diesel, FCEV and BEV options will not be supplemented by any kind of hybrid HiLux in the near future, with Toyota executives suggesting the company is not threatened by the success of new entrants like the BYD Shark 6.

TMCA vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley said Toyota still predicts FCEVs to be more than bit-players locally by 2035-2040 and suggested that the Japanese brand has timed the release of the HiLux FCEV to suit this curve.

Describing hydrogen as giving “fleet buyers yet another option of a powertrain that meets their needs and helps further our collective decarbonisation journey,” Mr Hanley, affirmed that initial volume expectations are modest and suggested Toyota that dealers will not sell the FCEV directly to the public.

“I will sell (HiLux FCEV) to anyone who wants it, but I think predominately it will appeal to fleet and mining companies," he said.

“Potentially big construction companies (and government too) … where there is heavier work (required), I think in future FCEV will be the natural progression for light commercial vehicles.”

Hydrogen refuelling remains the clear speed bump. Toyota’s Mirai sedan is technically available in Australia, but only through leases tightly controlled by TMCA for firms based around the company’s refueller in Altona, Victoria.

Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) has taken a similar approach to its Nexo medium SUV, which runs in the Australian Capital Territory’s government fleet supported by an HMCA-backed refuelling station outside Canberra. The Queensland Police fleet also has a handful of Nexo models.

Mr Hanley said TMCA’s Altona station is being expanded in the coming years to deliver more hydrogen – and drive subsidised refuelling prices down – but even this larger station will not be sufficient to underpin a broader HiLux FCEV rollout.

As a result, TMCA says it is investing in mobile refuelling infrastructure that can be sent directly to fleet operating bases such as mine sites.

Mr Hanley admitted that the mobile refuellers are not a long-term solution, but a step on the road to getting hydrogen into bowsers on highway routes.

Toyota sees an emerging market for fleet operators that have disparate vehicle demands: firms that need low-CO2 vehicles for environmental, social, and governance purposes, but where the core work still needs drivers to tow heavy loads for hundreds of kilometres at a time while on the clock.

“One would suggest that a hydrogen FCEV has the capability to tow and has the capacity to have range with heavy towing. In the longer term, it is a far better solution than a battery EV for commercial use. We are seeing that in trucks and busses,” Mr Hanley told GoAuto.

Toyota has welcomed the Australian government’s investment in hydrogen as part of a broader program of “made in Australia” initiatives aimed at onshoring energy production.

However, until hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is built out to the point that a private buyer, tradie or small business can comfortably refuel a HiLux FCEV, Mr Hanley suggested that the fuel-cell version of the ute will need to be restricted to internal sales at first.

“We have to work out how we will sell this vehicle…we have to protect our dealers in terms of investments. They will have a role … but not initially, because the costs are high, and the risks of any new technology are high.

“Once the (refuelling) infrastructure grows and the product expands, then it will go to the dealer network.”