Toyota HiLux vs Ford F-350

What's the difference?

Toyota claims its first HiLux BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) has been designed primarily with mining, business and government fleet customers in mind, by combining the iconic ute’s 4x4 all-terrain capability with zero tailpipe emissions only a full-electric drivetrain can deliver.

To prove its suitability for harsh Aussie conditions, Toyota claims the HiLux BEV has undergone more than two years of testing on site with major mining companies, covering thousands of kilometres in ambient temperatures up to 50 degrees.

We recently sampled the HiLux BEV as a daily driver in metropolitan use, to see if its mining-focused credentials translate to being a practical alternative to traditional diesel power for tradies working in busy urban environments.

Ford’s legendary F-Series has been America’s best-selling truck for more than four decades. A major factor in that success is the Super Duty range (F-250/F-350/F-450), which reports for duty when loggers, landscapers, miners, oil-field workers and anyone else with seriously heavy on- and off-road load-hauling requirements needs more than the entry level F-150 can deliver.

Not surprisingly, such extreme-duty towing is also required in Australia, particularly by tradies with heavy equipment, and/or for recreational and sporting pursuits that involve multi-axle caravans, horse floats, boat trailers and the like. Some of these large trailers feature a goose-neck design which requires a prime mover-style turntable coupling mounted in the cargo tub.

There are a number of small volume importers which cater for these specialised requirements, including Harrison F Trucks at Melton in Melbourne’s outer west. Harrison provides ADR-approved right-hand drive conversion, local certification and sales/after-sales service for these American giants, one of which we recently sampled for a few days to see what life is like in the world of the Super Duty.