Toyota has long been all-in on hybrids. The brand’s best-selling car, the RAV4, has two-tiers of electrified options. If you’re in the market for a new Venza or a revamped Sienna minivan, a hybrid powertrain is the only option.
There may be big news on the EV front next year, but according to AutoGuide, we can also expect the hybrid push to continue. Toyota reportedly wants every model to have an electrified option by 2025. No exceptions.
That’s encouraging news for Toyota’s upcoming (and long-awaited) updates to its trucks and off-roaders. The new Tundra, running on Toyota’s new TNGA-F platform, will reportedly arrive in late 2021 as a 2022 model year vehicle. New generations of the related Sequoia and the Tacoma and 4Runner will follow. Toyota also has the J300 Land Cruiser coming, though it’s not clear that it will arrive in North America.
Having a hybrid option for the off-roaders should enhance the appeal of each of those vehicles. The current knock on every one of them is having a dated, remarkably fuel-inefficient powertrain. (If Toyota were to confirm it was coming, I'd start saving up for a hybrid 4Runner right now.)
Where such a mandate could be threatening is with Toyota’s sports cars. A hybrid seems reasonable for the Supra. It’s a BMW underneath the skin, and of all manufacturers, BMW may be most likely to have a hybrid powertrain setup fit for a small sports car by 2025.
A hybrid Toyota 86, however, doesn’t make much sense. Its raison d'être is being the purist-friendly, manual transmission driver’s car. And unless more people start buying sports coupes, it may not sell enough for it to be worth Toyota putting in the effort with Subaru to make a hybrid. With the new BRZ already revealed, the new 86 should arrive soon. But how long will it be in the Toyota lineup?
While the changes at Toyota sound revolutionary, one could argue they are conservative. After all, rival Honda is already pulling non-hybrids out of major markets in the next two years.
