Could a future electric Toyota HiLux look like this?

In October, we saw an all-electric Toyota ute unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show – and I'm wondering just how many have spent more than five minutes thinking on what it means for the global car market.

Really, Toyota is late to the EV game in just about all respects. Its BZ4x is yet to go on sale in Australia, and while we've found it to be a good car, it's hardly putting rivals to shame. Even Toyota admits it isn't the first shot it should've been.

The Toyota EPU (Electric Pick-Up?) revealed last month isn't the modern motoring world's first electric ute, and it's very far from being the first small monocoque ute in today's market (see Santa Cruz and Maverick). More importantly, it isn't even confirmed for production.

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What it is, though, is a critical signal to the market that it needs to get ready for Toyota's electric onslaught.

The world's biggest carmaker has dragged its heels on EVs, mumbling all sorts of excuses – but when it really fires, buyers will remember what the Toyota brand represents.

Whether the compact EPU will go into production is still unclear, but we do know an electric HiLux is on the cards – in a proper full-series form, not just the largely experimental 'HiLux Revo' that surfaced in 2022.

How would an electric HiLux look?

Without properly knowing how the next HiLux will look, we can only speculate on the electric version's styling.

Will it be based on the same ladder-chassis of the 2025 HiLux, or will it go 'full skateboard' to properly utilise the structure for battery placement?

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We've previously imagined the new HiLux with 2024 Tacoma-inspired looks, but these latest renders by YouTube channel PoloTo looks to AI tools like Midjourney and Dall-E to imagine an even tougher look – in some cases with a monocoque body, and in others with a separate cab-and-tub design.

What do you think of this look? Would it drive you towards an electric HiLux, or do you have some specific criteria it'd need to meet first?