Can an electric Mitsubishi Triton stick it to the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger? 2024 new-generation ute ready to go EV, but don't expect a plug-in hybrid anytime soon

Mitsubishi’s highly-anticipated next-generation Triton, scheduled to be revealed later this year, will launch with combustion variants first, but a fully electric version is very much on the cards for the nameplate’s near future.

Speaking to media in Japan, Koichi Namiki, Executive Officer of Product Strategy, explained a mystery battery electric pick-up truck earmarked in the brand’s mid-term plan was likely to be some form of Triton.

“You can think of this as a version of the Triton,” he said. “The name of this product is maybe not decided, but we can’t produce so many different vehicles due to the size of the company.”

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But he was less sure about when precisely we would see this version of the truck, noting only that Australia and New Zealand were very important to its development.

“I had a chance to visit Australia earlier, they are talking a lot about the battery EV today - and the government is trying to come out with some legislation. I think some point in the near future we have to have a BEV in Australia for sure. When? That’s a difficult question,” Namiki said.

Executives confirmed the Triton would first launch with a combustion drivetrain in Thailand, where it is manufactured, but were evasive about exactly what would sit under the bonnet, saying all is yet to be revealed.

One thing is for sure though, while Mitsubishi is fully backing its unique plug-in hybrid tech as a selling point for its future SUV line-up, don’t expect it to be applied to the Triton nameplate anytime soon, as the brand believes the tech isn’t suited to a ute.

As Namiki said: “PHEV?, it’s a possibility, but we consider the [full-size] battery may fit better into a pick-up truck.”

“At this point we don’t see a lot of demand for this kind of plug-in hybrid pick-up.

“Companies are enquiring about purely electric versions of these vehicles.”

Mitsubishi says while its renewed focus on its brand, as opposed to profitability, will mean that it will “follow other brands” in a march up-market when it comes to retail prices, it is optimistic about prices coming down for battery electric vehicles in the near future.

Speaking on the topic General Manager of EV Powertrain Engineering Takashi Shirakawa said: “The current difficulty for battery electrics is they require huge battery volume, and they cost a lot. We cannot price our product that high.”

Using the official images of the XRT concept, this render is almost certainly how the production car will look. (Image: Kolesa)

“It is difficult to make the layout work with longitudinal engine layouts [like the one employed in the ladder-frame Triton and Pajero Sport]. We can do it, but we are not satisfied with the results.

“Today we are mainly NMC [nickel manganese cobalt lithium battery chemistry], and LFP [lithium iron phosphate] which comes from the Chinese market - it is lower cost and improved efficiency - this is one way to get costs down. NMC has political concerns [surrounding the ethical sourcing of cobalt] not technical concerns, and we believe costs are inflated right now.

“For the next generation we anticipate solid state batteries. It may require another few years. It is already used for mobile phones, but reliability needs to be improved.

“Nissan takes the lead on battery development, they are sharing those evolutions and we are also working with [third party] battery suppliers.”

In short, don’t expect to see a plug-in hybrid Triton or, by extension, Pajero Sport soon. Mitsubishi’s priorities will remain firmly on Ralliart and solving the problem of replacing its popular SUV range in Australia for the time being.