Demand for an electric Toyota HiLux opens up opportunities for enterprising Australians
None of Australia’s best-selling utes come with a factory-electric option, despite growing demand for battery-powered carriages from the mining sector in particular.
This has prompted the establishment of at least two Australian conversion companies committed to transforming thousands Toyota Hilux diesel engines into electric cars – instead of doing the same from the brand that originally built them.
One of these companies, Roev, was founded by Atlassian executives Noah Wasmer, Paul Slade, and Robert Dietz. It plans to convert more than 1000 diesel HiLux units to electric in the first 12 months of production, with the cars expected to be on the market from February 2024.
“More than half” of this allocation will go to Perth-based electric vehicle rental, rental and subscription company CarBon, “to provide commercial fleet operators looking to convert to zero-emissions traffic”.
CarBon recently discussed a pending pilot program in the north-west of Western Australia – home to the scorching, mineral-rich Pilbara – where it said “several resource companies” would develop. deploy these means to their operations.
“There is huge demand for light commercial electric vehicles in Australia, especially in the fleet market where businesses are racing to decarbonise,” said Wasmer, co-founder of ROEV.
“Electric conversion offers an additional option to accelerate this transition and we have worked very closely with the fleets to ensure the vehicles perform better than expected,” he said.
The electric Roev HiLux without diesel engine and transmission runs and gets a 64kWh battery with a 240km range or a 96kWh battery with a 360km range, which can be charged at 80kW DC or 11kW AC, capable of V2L performance and regenerative braking, and 4×2 or 4×4.
The Roev conversion is expected to cost between $47,990 and $57,990 on sponsor car prices – although it does indicate that many of this sponsor’s HiLux will be depreciated and used existing vehicles.
The company only converts sponsor HiLux vehicles with a five-star ANCAP rating and says its manufacturing is ISO 9001 compliant and validated against ADR protocols.
“Organizations are facing increasing pressure to transform their fleet of light commercial vehicles to meet ESG goals,” said Scott Gillespie, founder and CEO of CarBon. but so far there hasn’t been a 4×4 electric ute.
“…The HiLux is the best-selling ute in Australia and each converted Roev 4×4 Electric HiLux is capable of reducing over 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions over its life cycle,” he added.
The partnership between Roev and CarBon to provide the mining sector with electric versions of their favorite transport looks like a similar project from another Australia-based company called is Mevco.
Mevco earlier this year detail a project to make the 8500 new or almost new HiLux And LandCruiser diesel engines into zero-emission electric cars within the next 5 years.
The nearly billion-dollar deal is designed to capitalize on demand from the resources sector for battery-powered horses that will do the job in some of the world’s harshest conditions.
“[We have] 5000 orders right now from the mining space, from a week in Perth doing trips with 44 miners. We have stopped taking orders.” Mr. Cahir said auto expert sooner than 2023.
This includes major miners focusing on lithium and nickel for export into EV battery materials. The first customer was Mineral Resources, which operates two of the world’s largest hard rock lithium mines.
MEVCO is not responsible for the engineering, but has instead made an agreement with Australia-based (and globally renowned) commercial electric vehicle conversion company SEA Electric to match the transmission system. its proprietary electric motor.
SEA created the electric Hino truck And recently signed an agreement with iconic truck maker Mack. It even ‘re-energizes’ iconic American yellow school buses for that market. Its EV transmission is transferable, and the battery can be reused as permanent storage later, paired with on-site solar arrays.
Additional development work on the MEVCO HiLux EV is being carried out by New South Wales-based GB Auto Group to ensure the EV pipeline works as intended.
While finding thousands of sponsor HiLuxes is not easy, the reality is that many operators already have a bank of made-to-order vehicles to work with in favor of the project. MEVCO says it will buy as many as possible from dealers, as long as they are under 12 months old.
One takeaway from all of this is clear: While Australia is stuck in a slow lane when it comes to the popularity of EVs, the private sector is closing the gap.
Currently, the only electric ute on sale from its OEM is the 4×2 LDV eT60, priced at $92,990 in advance on road expenses.
The general manager of LDV, Dinesh Chinnappa, stated: “There is certainly a craving for electric vehicles with commercial applications.
“These Australian businesses know that the eT60 won’t pass Nullarbor – but its 330km range is more than enough for their day-to-day requirements.
“But they also know the government’s electric vehicle policy and electric vehicle infrastructure is changing and they want to stay ahead of the transition. And the LDV eT60, Australia’s first electric ute, is here to help.”
While there is no original HiLux EV at the factory, Toyota Australia has confirmed the 48-volt mild-hybrid technology will come to the HiLux diesel in the first half of 2024, marks 10 percent better fuel efficiency.
THAN: Mining companies are hungry for electric Toyota HiLux
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