Toyota targets fleets first for 2028 hydrogen HiLux as mobile refuellers step in

Hydrogen HiLux locked in for 2028

Toyota Motor Corporation Australia has confirmed a fuel-cell electric (FCEV) version of its new-generation HiLux is earmarked for a 2028 release, rounding out a three-powertrain lineup alongside a largely carryover 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder and a battery electric (BEV) variant due in 2026. GoAuto reported the confirmation, noting the FCEV would be the latecomer of the three. ¹

Chasing Cars separately reported the same 2028 confirmation, noting the new diesel HiLux was starting sales the following month and the BEV was set to join the range in 2026. Chasing Cars quotes Toyota Australia vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley describing the hydrogen ute as expanding Toyota's multi-pathway strategy rather than serving as a high-volume model: "We don't expect to see [the FCEV] as a large, upfront volume vehicle…it is simply to expand our multi-pathway strategy," he told media, including Chasing Cars. ²

Fleets, mining and construction targeted first

Both GoAuto and Chasing Cars report that Toyota expects the hydrogen HiLux to appeal overwhelmingly to commercial operators rather than private buyers. "I will sell (HiLux FCEV) to anyone who wants it, but I think predominately it will appeal to fleet and mining companies," Hanley said, according to GoAuto, adding that potentially big construction companies and government would follow, "where there is heavier work (required), I think in future FCEV will be the natural progression for light commercial vehicles." ¹²

Toyota sees a market among operators needing low-CO2 vehicles for environmental, social and governance purposes while still towing heavy loads for hundreds of kilometres at a time. GoAuto quotes Hanley arguing that a hydrogen FCEV has the capability to tow and the range to do so with heavy loads, calling it "in the longer term... a far better solution than a battery EV for commercial use" and pointing to Toyota's experience with hydrogen trucks and buses. ¹

Chasing Cars quotes Hanley making a similar case against the BEV for heavy work, saying he does not subscribe to the view that battery electric utes will necessarily have low range over the next five years for town and highway use, but that they will not match up for the heavy towing stuff. Chasing Cars also notes the HiLux BEV is expected to carry five people with payload similar to the diesel, but will not match the 2.8-litre for range, particularly when towing. ²

Dealers sidelined at launch

GoAuto reports that Toyota Australia's dealer network will not sell the FCEV directly to the public initially. "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," Hanley told GoAuto, saying the model would move to the dealer network once refuelling infrastructure grows and the product expands. ¹

Chasing Cars similarly quotes Hanley as not yet sure how the sales model will look, but believing FCEVs will eventually become mainstream vehicles in dealerships. On cost, Chasing Cars quotes Hanley saying upfront pricing "could be prohibitive for private buyers up front, but not necessarily for fleets", with the expense tied to the absence of refuelling infrastructure. Neither GoAuto nor Chasing Cars reports any confirmed pricing for the hydrogen HiLux. ²

Mobile refuellers and the infrastructure gap

Hydrogen refuelling remains the key constraint in Australia. GoAuto notes Toyota's Mirai sedan is technically available locally only through leases tightly controlled by TMCA, restricted to firms based around the company's refueller at Altona in Victoria, and that Hyundai's Nexo SUV runs in limited fleet programs including the ACT government fleet supported by a Hyundai-backed refueller outside Canberra, plus a small number with the Queensland Police fleet. ¹

Chasing Cars makes the same observations about the Mirai and the Hyundai Nexo, and quotes Hanley saying that while the Altona refueller is being enlarged, it will not be sufficient to support the rollout of the HiLux FCEV. GoAuto likewise reports the expanded station will not underpin a broader rollout. Instead, Toyota is investing in relocatable mobile refuellers that can be sent to fleet operating bases such as mine sites. ¹²

Hanley told Chasing Cars the mobile refuellers are an interim step only. "There will be [hydrogen] tanks … but we are also working on the capability to be able to transport hydrogen. That is another part of our investment … we are looking to expand to mobile refuellers, which would be an interim step only, not for the long term," he said. GoAuto reports the long-term goal is getting hydrogen into bowsers on highway routes. ¹²

The Altona station expansion is also intended to help on fuel cost. GoAuto reports Hanley as saying the station is being expanded in the coming years to deliver more hydrogen and drive subsidised refuelling prices down, though even the larger facility will not be enough to underpin a broader HiLux FCEV rollout. ¹

Toyota's hydrogen outlook and the broader push

GoAuto reports Hanley still predicts FCEVs will be more than bit-players in Australia by 2035-2040, with the HiLux FCEV timed to suit that curve. Toyota has also welcomed the Australian government's investment in hydrogen as part of a broader program of "made in Australia" initiatives aimed at onshoring energy production, according to GoAuto. ¹

On what hydrogen needs to progress, Chasing Cars quotes Hanley identifying cost and infrastructure as the current issues and calling for combined effort: "the only way we are going to accelerate it is if we come together as car companies, energy companies and government. Car companies are going to have to give some commitment to production vehicles." ²

Internationally, Toyota Motor Corporation is among the companies named in a Toyota media site announcement of a European collaboration aiming to scale hydrogen mobility for heavy-duty transport by 2030, alongside Daimler Truck, Volvo Group, Bosch, Air Liquide and TotalEnergies. The initiative includes deploying refuelling stations along strategic European corridors synchronised with hydrogen truck fleets and competitively priced fuel, with further details flagged for IAA Transportation in Hannover on 15 September. ³

A hybrid or plug-in hybrid HiLux, meanwhile, is not on the near-term agenda: both GoAuto and Chasing Cars report Toyota executives saying no hybrid HiLux is planned in the near future, with the BEV and FCEV the priority as the company sticks to its multi-pathway approach. ¹²