Toyota diesel hybrids unlikely

The chances of Toyota bringing a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain to market for flagship models such as the Toyota LandCruiser appear slim.

Instead, the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series and potentially the next-generation HiLux are set to benefit from a version of the thumping 325kW twin-turbo petrol V6 hybrid powertrain seen in the new Toyota Tundra.

New intel obtained by carsales suggests Toyota will continue to focus on petrol-electric hybrid powertrain technology in the mid-term and may even deploy hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle (FCEV) technology as an alternative to diesel engines in heavier vehicles.

“There’s no diesel hybrid in the line-up at the moment and that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be,” said our inside source on the condition of anonymity.

“But Toyota has a particular way of doing hybrid with petrol engines – series and parallel. Would that work with diesel?

“I’m not sure what is possible from a diesel point of view, but it’s a lot less likely than a petrol hybrid.”

That begs the question: how long until Toyota dumps diesel power for its cars globally if electrification can’t extend its life?

Although it sells more diesel vehicles than any other brand in Australia, the Japanese auto giant has already axed all diesel-powered models from its line-up in Europe, where sales of diesel cars have been in decline since Volkswagen’s Dieselgate scandal in 2015 and where self-charging hybrids outsold diesel cars for the first time in 2021.

Tightening emissions regulations are driving the shift towards electrified vehicles in Europe, where the EU6 emissions standard came into effect for all new vehicles sold from September 2015.

But the Euro 7 standard due from 2025 will be much harder for diesel vehicles to meet, and the EU has proposed to effectively ban the sale of all new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles by 2035.

Along with several other brands, Nissan has retired diesel powertrains in Europe and has never offered a diesel engine in its Y62 Patrol, the arch-rival to the Toyota LandCruiser.

Toyota announced its mid-term EV strategy in December, when it promised to fast-track the release of 30 new Toyota and Lexus EVs – including utes, off-roaders, SUVs, crossovers and sports cars – by 2030.

Toyota has been dragged kicking and screaming to the EV party and will launch its first global electric vehicle, the bZ4X crossover, late this year (or perhaps early 2023 in Australia).

Apart from a super-compact two-seat EV offered in Japan, Toyota currently has no EVs available to the public.

Unsurprisingly, so far it has not joined the growing number of car-makers committed to going all-EV, but there’s every chance the world’s biggest car-maker will outline an exit strategy for diesel power sooner rather than later.

Toyota originally pledged to offer a hybrid version of every model it sells by 2025, but last year it pushed that target back to 2030.

Toyota execs are on record saying there was ‘potential’ for a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain in the company’s future but never confirmed it, and in mid-2021 reports from Japan suggested diesel-electric power was being readied for vehicles like the HiLux and LandCruiser.

However, given the vast majority of Toyota’s near-$100 billion electrification investment will go into the development of pure EVs, diesel hybrid tech is likely to be a lower priority now.

The new Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series – and the next-generation Toyota HiLux that will share its TNGA-F ladder platform from around 2024 – are therefore likely to adopt petrol-electric hybrid powertrains similar to the unit in the Toyota Tundra full-size pick-up.

The i-Force MAX hybrid powertrain is a genuine stump-puller, combining a turbo-petrol V6 with an electric motor to crank out 325kW and 790Nm in both the new Tundra – which is under study for an Aussie introduction – and its large SUV sister model, the Toyota Sequoia.

That’s almost 100kW and 100Nm more than the 227kW/700Nm outputs of the LandCruiser’s new 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6 (227kW/700Nm).

Questions around the 325kW hybrid system making its way into the LandCruiser 300 were stonewalled by Toyota Australia, which would neither confirm nor deny a possible introduction in future.

Our source was more forthcoming, however.

“There will be electrification on every Toyota model by the end of the decade. Don’t rule it out [the i-Force MAX hybrid powertrain] for the LC300 in future.”

Expect pricing for what could be the most powerful factory LandCruiser ever produced to be eye-watering, considering the LC300 range currently starts at close to $100,000 on the road – if you can get your hands on one.

The V6 hybrid system is almost certain to make its way into the LandCruiser’s luxury cousin, the Lexus LX, where price premiums are less likely to ignite debate, and potentially also Toyota’s next-generation Fortuner and Prado.

And while the Toyota LandCruiser’s all-new V6 turbo-diesel is also likely to power the next HiLux, Prado and Fortuner, tightening emissions regulations could make it the last diesel engine Toyota ever develops.

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