10:30 06-06-2026

Toyota HiLux BEV: the first electric ute in Australia to earn a five-star ANCAP rating

Toyota's electric HiLux scores top ANCAP marks under outgoing 2023–2025 protocols, becoming the only five-star electric ute on the Australian market.

Toyota HiLux BEV has become the first electric ute in Australia to earn the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating. The battery-electric HiLux was assessed under the outgoing 2023–2025 protocols and remains the only electric ute on the local market with that result.

For Toyota, this is a meaningful argument: the HiLux BEV is not a cheap mass-market version — it sits at the top of the HiLux price ladder. In Australia the range opens at A$74,990 (around US$53,500) for the SR Dual-Cab Chassis, the SR pick-up costs A$76,490, and the flagship SR5 goes for A$82,990. The model's core audience is not private buyers, however, but fleets — mining companies, construction outfits, government departments and other operators where a five-star safety rating is often a hard requirement alongside price and range.

According to ANCAP, the HiLux scored 84% for adult occupant protection, 89% for child occupant protection, 82% for vulnerable road user protection, and 14.83 out of 18 points for safety assist systems. ANCAP also ran additional frontal offset and oblique pole tests specifically for the BEV to verify battery integrity and the behaviour of the high-voltage system in severe crash scenarios.

Technically, the HiLux BEV is built more for working duty cycles than for long-distance journeys. Toyota Australia quotes 144 kW of combined output (82 kW at the front, 129 kW at the rear), a 59.2 kWh battery, up to 315 km of range for the pick-up versions and 2,000 kg of towing capacity. The cab-chassis model has a more modest 245 km range. That explains why Toyota itself is targeting customers with predictable daily routes and the ability to charge the vehicle at base.