Patents Show Potential Toyota Truck PHEV LayoutsUnited States Patent and Trademark Office
For the past two decades, Toyota has been the U.S. market leader in hybrids. Partially electrified Toyotas are available across the brand’s lineup, and have long served as a major pillar of the company’s North American offerings. Plug-in options, however, are limited to just the RAV4 and Prius in the United States. A new series of patents shows how the brand may be considering filling one hole in its lineup with a PHEV version of a pickup truck.
The patents, first noted by CarBuzz, demonstrate a wide variety of battery packaging options for a plug-in hybrid Tacoma, Tundra or similar. Six different patents, all published on March 5th, put batteries under the bed and under the rear seats in multiple configurations. One more extreme option packages all the batteries under the bed itself, another puts the batteries in two different packs under the seats and in the bed, and a third places a single L-shaped packaging section in the same spots.
As with all patents filed by automakers, these ideas are not necessarily locks to make their way into a production-ready car in the near future. However, it’s still interesting to see a public record of proof that Toyota is weighing a few different options to package a plug-in pick-up.
If Toyota were to go forward with a plug-in hybrid truck, it would be the first to bring that particular layout to the United States. The closest thing to direct competition would be an upcoming Stellantis extended-range EV, the recently-renamed Ram REV. Toyota’s potential PHEV pick-up would also have to contend with various fully electric trucks and more conventional hybrids, including the hybrid Tundras and Tacomas already on its own dealer lots.
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