Isuzu Ute Australia has officially cancelled plans to launch the all-electric D-Max ute in down under, despite previously confirming our market as one of the first destinations for its first battery-powered ute. While that may be a surprise to some, the reasoning is simple: Australian ute buyers apparently aren’t showing enough interest in going fully electric.

The D-Max EV was originally destined for an Australian introduction later this year as part of Isuzu Ute’s global electric rollout, with Australia specifically named in 2024 alongside markets including the UK and Thailand.

4

Those plans have now been abandoned, with Isuzu confirming it has decided not to export the battery-electric D-Max down under in order to prioritise customer demand. Isuzu Ute Australia general manager Rod Caldwell pointed to the relatively slow sales of the recently introduced Toyota HiLux BEV as evidence of limited local demand for fully electric workhorse utes.

“We’ve got a competitor out there, a big competitor, who’s got a BEV ute and it’s selling about 30 a month,” Caldwell said. “And so probably we think we’d get a third of that. The customers are not looking for that.”

Isuzu says diesel fuel still accounts for 84 per cent of Australian light commercial vehicle sales year-to-date, and the company will instead concentrate on its existing diesel-powered D-Max range.

That includes the newer 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel introduced in 2025, which produces 120kW and 400Nm and is rated from 6.3L/100km on the combined fuel consumption cycle, with emissions from 174g/km. Isuzu says the more efficient engine is part of its strategy to reduce fleet emissions under the NVES.

The decision means Australians will miss out on a D-Max EV that has some surprisingly serious workhorse credentials. Already available in overseas markets such as the UK and Thailand, it features a 66.9kWh lithium-ion battery that feeds two electric motors for combined outputs of 140kW and 325Nm.

3

Importantly, the EV has a 3500kg braked towing capacity and a payload of around 1000kg, which matches the key capabilities of the diesel D-Max. It also comfortably exceeds the 2000kg towing capacity and 835kg payload of the electric Toyota HiLux BEV.

However, like the HiLux BEV, there are compromises. The electric D-Max is rated at just 263km on the WLTP cycle for driving range, while DC charging is limited to just 50kW for a claimed 20-80 per cent fast-charge time of around an hour, or around four times slower than the quickest-charging EVs in Australia.

Pricing is another potential issue for the D-Max EV. Converting the UK cost directly to Australian dollars gives a figure of around $100,000, which is likely a bit higher than what it would’ve been listed for, but it still would’ve asked significantly more than a diesel-powered model. For now, Isuzu remains one of the few major ute manufacturers without an electrified offering in Australia, like Mitsubishi, Mazda and Volkswagen.