Toyota splits hybrid lineup into ‘Efficiency’ and ‘Performance’ streams, as off roaders and sports cars pursue electrification

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Toyota Australia is drawing a line in the sand as it continues to grow its hybrid lineup, acknowledging that some hybrids are designed to do more than just save fuel.

This comes off the back of Toyota Australia confirming this week the local release of a petrol-hybrid version of the forthcoming 300 Series Land Cruiser that you can read about here, with the expectation that other models such as Prado may follow.

The vast majority of Toyota’s lineup, consisting of passenger cars and unibody SUVs, will be classified as ‘Efficient Hybrids’ as per their primary objective, while body-on-frame 4x4s and potentially future electrified sports cars will fall under the banner of ‘Performance Hybrids’.

The latter category kicked off with the hybrid-only Toyota Tundra in 2024 and will continue with the arrival of the hybrid 300 Series Land Cruiser in the first half of next year.

What makes it a Performance Hybrid?

The wording may be relative, but the key difference, according to Toyota Australia, is entirely mechanical.

Efficiency Hybrids utilise Toyota’s well-known ‘series-parallel’  combination of a transverse petrol engine, mated with two electric motors/generators directly driving the front axle. 

In all-wheel-drive versions, an additional electric motor sits on the rear axle to drive the corresponding wheels, negating the need for a centre driveshaft.

Originally dubbed ‘I-Force Max’ when it was birthed in America for the new-generation Tundra full-size pickup, the Performance Hybrid setup uses a longitudinal engine, with a strong electric motor sandwiched between an automatic transmission and a traditional four-wheel-drive system. 

While currently only a designation used for 4×4 models, Toyota has told Chasing Cars it could potentially be used for a new breed of hybrid performance cars – though it stopped short of confirming their existence.

It comes as Japanese outlet Best Car Web reported this month that a new-generation Supra and Celica will be released in the coming years with a hybrid system, backed by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, producing up to 373kW.

Do Performance Hybrids still save fuel?

Since making its debut in 2001 with the Prius hatch, Toyota’s series-parallel hybrid systems have gained fame for their efficiency, with a AWD hybrid RAV4 using far less fuel than its petrol-only counterpart (7.0L/100km vs 4.8L/100km) before the latter was discontinued in 2024.

In comparison, the US market Tundra Limited offers marginally better fuel efficiency at 11.7L/100km in hybrid guise, versus 12.3L/100km in the non-hybrid version – with identical economy on the highway.

The hybrid Tundra does, however, offer significantly higher outputs of 326kW/790Nm, versus 267kW/550Nm from the 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol, thanks to the addition of a 36kW/250Nm electric motor.

Hybrid Land Cruiser will still cop NVES fines

Lower fuel figures and thus lower emissions will be critically important to Toyota as the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Emissions Standard (NVES) comes into play. 

While official fuel consumption figures are yet to be finalised, Toyota Australia’s vice president of sales and marketing Sean Hanley admitted that even the electrified version of its flagship was still likely to receive fines for excess emissions.

“It’s a heavy vehicle, so it’s likely it will incur some penalty, but that’s okay, we can self-sustain it and offset it with other vehicles [in the Toyota lineup]”, he said.

Stay tuned for our first drive of the petrol-electric hybrid 300 Series Land Cruiser coming soon.