Toyota Hilux 48V (2024) Launch Review
By implementing mild-hybrid tech, Toyota South Africa Motors has improved the performance and efficiency of selected 2.8GD-6 variants of SA’s top-selling bakkie. Are the improvements notable enough? We drive a Toyota Hilux 48V to find out.
If you’re Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), good things come in, uhm, 19s. It was in 2005 that the Aichi-based manufacturer’s local subsidiary launched the Prius as the 1st hybrid in South Africa’s new passenger car market. With a paltry 1 200 units sold throughout its on-and-off tenure in Mzansi (it was discontinued in 2022), the Prius hardly set the sales charts alight. But what that model did achieve, on a global scale, was to open the floodgates to a raft of hybridised models from Toyota and Lexus’ stables.
If the segue of 19 years comes across as an incongruent marketing-unfriendly cacophony, that’s perhaps because the “48V” designation of the Japanese marque’s latest hybrid additions (electrically-assisted 2.8-litre Hiluxes and Fortuners) is, while descriptive, open to misinterpretation without more explanation.
The Hilux 48V is a mild-, not full hybrid
Unlike in the now-departed Prius, or perhaps more contemporarily – a Corolla hybrid or Corolla Cross hybrid – the petrol-electric addition to the Hilux and Fortuner ranges is only mild in application, meaning that the “48V” operates conventionally, but its diesel engine is aided by the electrical component of the powertrain in the background, with no switchable battery modes or interventions available to the driver.
So really, the 48V Hilux 48V (the “V” designates volts, not valves) is a hybrid that Toyota doesn’t want to call a hybrid.
The cleverer bits are the benefits that the electrical system offers. A motor generator unit fitted high in the engine bay (to allow for the bakkie’s 700 mm wading depth) provides seamless stop/start ability.
What’s more, it facilitates a lower idling speed (from 720 rpm to 600 rpm), while providing an additional 12 kW and 65 N.m of torque available across the entirety of the (otherwise unaltered) 150 kW/500 N.m GD-6 engine’s rev range – most crucially, for (otherwise diesel-wolving) pullaways and bursts of hard acceleration. Toyota says the system contributes to an efficiency improvement of between 7- and 11%.
The 48V battery after which the variants are named, is located beneath the rear seat and weighs 7.6 kg.
This part-electrified Raider 2.8 GD-6 RB double cab costs R785 400, a premium of R15 500 over its non-hybridised half-brother. As for the 4×4 iteration of the same variant, the price premium amounts to R18k.
The 48V-equipped Toyota Hilux and Fortuner derivatives are further enhanced to feature a multi-terrain select (MTS) mode that tailors torque and traction configurations for specific road surfaces.
See also: Toyota Hilux 48V (2024) Price & Specs
Running updates to Raider variants
Along with launching the Hilux 48V, Toyota has taken the opportunity to visually update the entire Raider range with a restyled front bumper, honeycomb grille and foglamp surrounds. The side mirrors and door handles (on all 2.8-litre variants), rear bumper and tailgate handle are now also black.
Inside, the 2.8-litre Raiders get leather trim with an 8-way electrically adjustable driver seat, with 48V versions treated to remote jamming protection, a 1-touch function on all electric windows, keyless entry and -start. The upgrade to 2.4-litre versions is milder: electrically foldable mirrors have been added.
And, after years of toing-and-froing with TSAM’s head office in Japan over the inclusion of warranty-shredding dealer-level aftermarket accessories, prospective customers can finally order a range of the latter in South Africa. And, for not only their new Hiluxes – but additionally for Fortuners, Prados, Land Cruiser 70s and 300s – as provided by several leading approved suppliers.
All available items are identically priced (across the brand’s respective model ranges), fitted at Toyota and can either be included in a new vehicle’s finance plan or invoiced for separately.
What is the Hilux 48V like to drive?
So, is the Toyota Hilux 48V the game-changing, system-shocking segment-first hybrid bakkie that its label promises? On paper, it’s hard to argue against the claimed improvements the system offers.
Contrarily, so imperceptible (or tame) is the electrical assistance that in real-world driving conditions, the advantages of better theoretical acceleration and enhanced fuel-saving are difficult to quantify without a stopwatch and a back-to-back stint in a non-hybrid equivalent Hilux that includes a stop at the pumps.
Still, the smoothness of the stop/start system is admirable and the ability to run the climate control in silence from the battery (while stationary at an intersection) is unprecedented in the 8th-gen Hilux.
How much does the Hilux 48V cost in South Africa?
All derivatives are sold with a 3-year/100 000 warranty and a 9-service/90 000 km service plan.
New Toyota Hilux Specs & Prices in South Africa
Summary
While Toyota acolytes eagerly await official word about the release date of the next-gen Hilux, the introduction of 48V variants to the current range represents a much-needed inch forward (or fillip) for the 8-year-old Hilux until the new one finally arrives. As we reported recently, last month’s new vehicle sales figures showed that the Hilux remains locked in a fierce battle for supremacy with the Ford Ranger.
An all-new Hilux won’t arrive this year; however, what is known is that the 9th-gen model will be based on a modular platform capable of accommodating a wider variety of (alternative) fuel powertrains.
Smartly, Toyota has opted to supplement the Hilux range with what’s likely to remain nice-but-niche 48V variants without culling other derivatives from its labyrinthine line-up. Identifying the ideal mild-hybrid bakkie customer elicits a furrowed brow, especially when considering that traditionalists could perceive the inclusion of electrical hardware as adding unnecessary cost, complication and reliability challenges.
Still, as the company that made “hybrid” integral to the automotive lexicon, whose technology has gone on to surpass 15 million global sales and raked in no fewer than 5 Le Mans victories, Toyota has proved a point with the Hilux 48V: Even a perennial top-seller can gain new talents in the twilight of its model life.
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