With this electric pickup you can unload an entire house

The Toyota Hilux enjoys a rock-solid reputation. It’s impossible to break, as a certain television show proved, which is why the pickup truck is so popular in Africa and Australia.

This study model from Toyota is a preview of the electric Hilux. And that raises high expectations, because the guys from Top Gear proved years ago that the model is indestructible.

Indestructible pickup

Toyota therefore needs to ensure that this EPU, as the concept car is called, still works even if a flat tire is dropped on it. Eventually, Clarkson and the men on a Hilux caused a building collapse, which then simply began.

Slanted nose

The EPU does not have a ladder chassis like most other pick-ups, but rather a modern monocoque. The car is over 5 meters long, slightly shorter than the Hilux. Specifications are unknown.

What is striking about the Toyota is the narrow nose (an engine block at the front is not necessary) and the loading platform, which is connected to the cabin via a hatch. Longer loads can partly be stored indoors.

Half “yoke” steering wheel

Toyota will unveil the EPU at the Tokyo Auto Show this week. The model appears to be ready for production, although the dashboard with a half “yoke” steering wheel seems something from the future.

Why improve something that doesn’t need improvement? A round steering wheel has been tried and tested for more than a century, but Tesla and Toyota felt it necessary to come up with something different.

At Tesla the “control stick” doesn’t work at all. When cornering you simply have to over-accelerate and it is therefore quite easy to make mistakes. Toyota takes a more comfortable approach with a steer-by-wire system with variable ratio.