Toyota HiLux vs RAM 2500

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.

It was a couple of years ago when Ram Australia attempted to ween its faithful off the Hemi petrol V8 engine. It wasn’t an easy process, either, as the warbling V8 had really resonated (no pun intended) with buyers Down Under.

But Ram still turned the PR machine up to 11 to convince us that the new turbocharged inline six-cylinder replacing the V8 in the 1500 pick-up was the full quid. As in, we were invited to perform 0-100km/h dashes in the outgoing V8 and the new turbo-six, to demonstrate how much faster the new six was (and it was, particularly in High Output form).

So guess what happened next? Yep, Ram is reintroducing the Hemi V8, claiming its buyers never stopped wanting one. Of course, it’s not that cut and dried: The V8 won’t be available in the 1500, but it is making its first volume appearance in the 2500 Heavy Duty version of the Ram pick-up. (The 2500 range was updated about a year ago.)

So it’s not quite the about-face by Ram that it might seem. But it’s still recognition of the fact that the people who populate the full-sized pick-up market aren’t quick to dispense with tradition.

Speaking of tradition, the badge on the new Ram 2500 V8 is 'Warlock' a name first used on Chrysler’s (and Dodge’s) tricked-up pick-ups of the 1970s and sold under the 'Adult Toys' range of utes and vans.