What's the difference?
This is it: Australia’s first fully electric ute.
It is telling of the times that the eT60, a dual-cab, no less, doesn’t come from a traditional titan of Australia’s car market like Ford, Nissan or Toyota.
Instead, it comes from Chinese upstart, LDV. The brand has already made a name for itself importing affordable alternatives to these mainstream rivals.
The combustion version of the T60 is chipping away at the market share of established names, commanding nearly six per cent of the light commercial market, placed fifth behind Mitsubishi.
Can the brand be more than a cut-price option, though? Does it have what it takes to be a first-mover with its all-electric dual-cab? We drove a pre-production example at its Australian launch to find out.
The ninth-generation Toyota HiLux is not really a new HiLux in the true sense of the word, but there’s enough going on with it to have generated plenty of excitement in the ute-loving public.
This ‘new’ HiLux, in essence, is an update but it’s an update with substance: the HiLux now sports a new retro design, new interior layout, new suspension tune (softer rated springs and dampers for improved on-road comfort) – and it even has an electric park brake now.
So, with no major mechanical upgrades, is this HiLux enough of an improvement over past iterations to warrant your attention?
The eT60 presents as an electric vehicle clearly converted from a combustion vehicle to take advantage of being first in our market.Â
It comes with some significant downsides, from the lack of key specifications and safety equipment to the downright average drive experience, but in other areas it’s specified right, with decent charging specs, and surprisingly good software on that centre multimedia screen.Â
In some ways, these impressions are a reflection of how far the ute market has come in Australia in the last few years, with many commercial offerings now feeling just as complete as passenger cars in terms of specification and driving prowess.
LDV has left open the door for future tweaks and improvements to the eT60’s spec, ride, and features, and we’re keen to get it in for a longer test in the near future. Either way, though, the brand says it has no shortage of buyers lining up to be a part of the zero emissions future of commercial vehicles.
The Toyota HiLux SR5 now feels nicer and more modern inside and out and it no longer lags behind some other utes – even some of the cheaper ones – in terms of comfort, refinement and all-round driveability.
Toyota has in the past been guilty of sometimes doing the bare minimum when it comes to producing a ‘new’ vehicle – especially LandCruisers or HiLuxes – but this time even though this HiLux is definitely not a new model, the exterior revamp and interior refresh have added more than enough to the HiLux package to keep fans and new buyers happy.
This is the best HiLux so far.