Toyota has developed a mild hybrid version of the Hybrid 48V Hilux pickup truck for Europe; it is designed extremely simply and will go on sale in the middle of next year.
The Hilux Hybrid 48V was revealed last month as part of the group announcement of the updated line of Toyota light commercial vehicles for the European market, and today details about the design were revealed.
Toyota rightly considers the pioneer of hybridization in the global automotive industry, but the Japanese company was unable to offer anything new when applied to the Hilux pickup truck; its mild hybridization followed the most conservative scenario: a 2.8-liter turbodiesel (204 hp, 500 Nm) was added to the 48-volt starter-generator (16 hp, 65 Nm), it is connected to the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine by a belt drive, the belt is made of particularly durable material and is equipped with a double-lever tensioner.
A compact buffer lithium-ion battery weighing 7.6 kg is located under the rear seat; it stores electricity, which is generated by the starter-generator when the vehicle is braking and coasting. When starting from a standstill and during intense acceleration, the starter-generator assists the internal combustion engine, briefly increasing the traction capabilities of the vehicle and reducing the level of harmful emissions into the atmosphere by reducing the load on the internal combustion engine. The stop-start system in combination with a starter-generator can turn off the engine when idle for a longer period of time, overall this allows to reduce fuel consumption by 5%.
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Toyota emphasizes that hybridization has not affected the pickup's off-road capabilities in any way: the 48-volt battery is properly isolated, the Hilux can still ford up to 700 mm deep, ground clearance is 310 mm, approach angle is 29 degrees, departure angle — 26 degrees.
In addition, the Multi-terrain Select system has been adapted for the hybrid pickup truck, which optimizes the vehicle’s performance for different types of soil, with a total of five modes: dry mud, wet mud, sand, stones, deep snow.
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Note that the design of the hybrid add-on weight in the Hilux Hybrid 48V does not allow driving on electric power even for a short time, and therefore the benefit from this add-on weight is small. Meanwhile, the Stellantis corporation began this year to introduce a much more progressive and efficient mild-hybrid power plant into its passenger models, which allows the car to drive only on electric power at low speeds, but for this it was necessary, together with Punch Powertrain, to develop a new 6-speed automatic transmission with two clutches — it is in it that the electric motor and the power electronics unit are implanted. Toyota Hilux Hybrid 48V is equipped with a conventional 6-speed hydromechanical automatic transmission.
We add that Last week, Toyota unveiled the all-new Hilux Champ delivery truck for emerging markets, designed to accommodate a variety of powertrain types, including hybrid and all-electric.