Toyota unveils new 2022 Tundra pickup truck with new hybrid engine

Toyota Motor on Sunday unveiled its new 2022 Tundra pickup with a bolder look, new applied sciences and extra energy. However what might shock many truck homeowners is the extra energy won’t be from a V-8 engine.

As an alternative of completely providing the pickup with a V-8 engine, the Japanese automaker will provide two variations of a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 engine, together with a hybrid that may produce as much as 437 horsepower – 56 greater than the present V-8 – and 583 foot-pounds of torque, a forty five% enhance than the 2021 Tundra.

“We took a contemporary, transformational method to our truck improvement and needed to rethink many issues we would beforehand executed,” Mike Sweers, senior vice chairman of Toyota’s product improvement workplace, mentioned in an announcement.

Utilizing twin-turbo V-6 engines has confirmed profitable in pickup vehicles. Ford Motor shocked many by introducing resembling engine, which it calls EcoBoost, into its best-selling F-150 pickup in 2011. The engine was a shock hit, with Ford including different Ecoboost engines to its truck lineup.

Automakers have more and more began to supply various powertrain choices forward of an influx of all-electric pickups available in the market within the coming years. Ford provides a hybrid F-150 and a regular hybrid on its new small Maverick pickup, whereas Ram Vans provides a light hybrid on its 1500.

“Consumers generally have gotten somewhat bit extra accepting of other, powertrains” mentioned IHS Markit principal automotive analyst Stephanie Brinley. “If the engine and the propulsion system provides you what you have to function your truck, and do what you have to do with that truck. they’re accepting alternate options to V-8s.”

Except for the brand new engine, the Tundra provides a much more rugged design than the present pickup. Most notably, an enormous entrance grille that takes up a majority of the entrance of the automobile. It additionally options sleeker headlights and a boxier design.

On the inside, the Tundra has an accessible 14-inch touchscreen and elevated security and comfort options, together with a brand new infotainment system.

Whereas the Detroit automakers dominate the full-size pickup truck market within the U.S., Toyota has achieved some success, persistently promoting greater than 100,000 of the automobiles every year. That compares with gross sales of Ford’s F-Sequence, which incorporates the F-150 and bigger variations, at round 800,000-900,000 pickups lately.

“The Tundra can do effectively, however it is going to be No. 3 [in the market]. They do not essentially have the capability to essentially go after Ram or Chevrolet volumes,” Brinley mentioned.

Toyota didn’t launch gas financial system or pricing for the 2022 Tundra, which is predicted to go on sale later this 12 months. The automobile’s beginning pricing at present ranges from about $34,000 for a base mannequin to $50,000 for an off-road TRD PRO. Gasoline financial system is 13 miles per gallon within the metropolis and 17 mpg freeway.

Toyota produces the Tundra alongside the Tacoma midsize pickup at a plant in San Antonio, Texas.