Toyota Puts Its Electric Hilux Under a Falling Caravan — and It Simply Drives Away

Toyota has revived one of the most famous stunts in motoring history to make a point about its new battery-powered Hilux. Back in 2003, the Top Gear team famously failed to kill a Hilux, subjecting it to a wrecking ball, a dunking and a demolition. Two decades on, Toyota wanted to show that swapping the diesel for an electric drivetrain has not softened its legendary workhorse.

Rather than dream up the challenge itself, Toyota asked UK communities on Reddit how the electric Hilux should be tested. Hundreds of replies converged on one idea: repeat the caravan drop. At Bentwaters airfield in Suffolk, a crane lifted a 760 kg (1,675 lb) caravan roughly 30 feet into the air before releasing it straight onto the pickup’s roof. Apart from some cosmetic scars, the truck started up and pulled away without hesitation.

That stunt is only the opening act. Toyota has handed the keys of the Hilux BEV to the Top Gear YouTube channel, which will put the truck through further punishment. The electric Hilux is Toyota’s first battery-electric pickup and its first body-on-frame EV. A dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup produces 278 hp (208 kW) and 473 Nm (348 lb-ft) of torque, good for a towing capacity beyond 1,700 kg (3,700 lbs). It is also the brand’s first EV with Multi-Terrain Select, offering five drive modes that adapt to the surface underneath.

A 59.2 kWh water-cooled lithium-ion pack delivers up to 257 km (160 miles) on the WLTP cycle, stretching to as much as 380 km (236 miles) in city driving. DC fast charging at up to 125 kW takes the battery from 10% to 80% in roughly half an hour. In the UK, the entry-level Hilux BEV Icon can be ordered from £42,170 ($56,500) before VAT.