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Aussies love their diesel utes but with crunching emissions regulations coming into place, it’s unclear how much longer they will reign supreme.
Diesel utes such as the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger are well-loved and have been the best-selling vehicles in Australia for almost 10 years now.
It now seems “peak ute” has passed or will soon pass and the next best-selling car in Australia will likely be an SUV, potentially the Toyota RAV4.
Back to utes though, they are still a very popular body style in the fleet space and for tradies, farmers and other rural operators, among others.
In order to cater to this market, carmakers have already started introducing ‘cleaner’ alternatives to diesel power as they are acutely aware of the tightening CO2 emission regulations that are coming into effect.
Earlier in 2025 Ford introduced the Ranger plug-in hybrid (PHEV), which combines a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor. It produces total system outputs of 207kW and 697Nm, which is 23kW and 97Nm more than the current V6 turbo-diesel.
It also offers up to 49km of NEDC claimed range and notably retains a 3500kg braked towing capacity.
However, compared to the Ranger V6 diesel, the equivalent PHEV is currently around $5000 more expensive. Even the cheapest Ranger PHEV is over $70,000 before on-road costs.
In the PHEV ute space, the Ranger PHEV’s biggest competition is the Shark 6 from China’s BYD. It’s currently the best-selling PHEV ute in Australia with a total of 15,181 sold over the first 10 months of 2025.
A big drawcard for this is likely the Shark 6’s keen asking price. There’s currently only one fully loaded trim level offered in Australia and it’s priced from $57,900 before on-road costs.
Compared to the Ranger PHEV, the Shark 6 has a smaller 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that generally acts as a generator to charge the battery.
As a result it only offers a 2500kg braked towing capacity, though thanks to a larger battery pack it offers more electric range, up to 100km according to NEDC testing.
Another PHEV ute option is the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV, which like the Ranger PHEV still offers the benchmark 3500kg braked towing capacity, and offers 110km of electric range according to NEDC testing.
China’s GWM is also currently heavily incentivising the Cannon Alpha PHEV over its diesel counterpart. The entry-level Ultra PHEV is $1500 cheaper than the Ultra turbo-diesel.
Looking beyond this, Toyota is heading down a different path with its HiLux ute. It just launched a new-generation model and in the first half of 2026 will launch a battery electric (BEV) version.
Aimed primarily at fleets rather than private buyers, the HiLux BEV will likely be much more expensive and less capable than its turbo-diesel counterpart. Toyota Australia hasn’t confirmed pricing, nor official details yet.
If the European-specification version is anything to go by, while it has a dual-motor set-up with a 59.2kWh lithium-ion battery, it only has 240km of claimed range, according to pre-homologation WLTP testing.
It also only offers payload of up to 715kg and braked towing capacity of 1600kg. This is down considerably on the turbo-diesel HiLux, which typically offers about 1000kg of payload and a 3500kg braked towing capacity.
Another carmaker that’s heading down the BEV pathway with its ute is Isuzu. The Japanese brand plans to launch an electric version of the D-Max in Australia over the next year or so.
Like the HiLux BEV, the D-Max EV will likely be much more expensive than its turbo-diesel counterpart and in Europe only offers 262km of WLTP claimed range.
However, the D-Max EV offers a payload of up to 1000kg and a 3500kg braked towing capacity, matching current benchmarks for diesel-powered utes.
As it currently stands there are two electric utes on sale in Australia. There’s the lacklustre LDV eT60 and an eye-watering $92,900 before on-road costs, as well as the KGM Musso EV that starts at a sharp $60,000 drive-away.
The latter is unlike any other ute previously mentioned as it’s built on a monocoque platform, not a body-on-frame chassis. This typically makes a vehicle more passenger-oriented for comfort than heavy-duty payload-oriented.
Despite this, the Musso EV offers up to 905kg of payload and a 1800kg braked towing capacity. This is more than the European-specification HiLux BEV.
Toyota isn’t putting all its eggs into one basket however, in classic multi-pathway strategy fashion. It has confirmed it will launch a hydrogen fuel-cell (FCEV) version of the HiLux in Australia during 2028.
Toyota is one of the few to be still investing in FCEV technology beyond the realm of the heavy-duty trucks.
Little is confirmed about the HiLux FCEV just yet, though Toyota Australia Vice President of Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley believes hydrogen will overtake diesel from 2035 onwards.
It’s unlikely there will be one singular silver bullet to replace popular diesel-powered utes as emission regulations crunch, but as laid out there are many options currently on the boil and likely many more still in the works.
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