Future Toyota Land Cruiser could be set to gain Tundra hybrid V6 set-up

With the announcement of the Toyota Tundra pick-up truck development for the Australian market, it means that potentially its hybrid technology could flow into the Land Cruiser

Toyota has today announced that it is developing the Tundra pick-up truck for the Australian market.

The big news from the Japanese global manufacturer is that it will be bringing the 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine to Australia in the Tundra, and the best part? It will utilise the hybrid system currently used in the Tundra sold in the US.

Toyota calls it “the most advanced and fuel-efficient powertrain available on this model”.

The Toyota Sequoia has a twin-turbo hybrid V6 engine

But here at Chasing Cars, we can’t go without speculating the possibilities of this powertrain once it is in the Australian market.

A hybrid Land Cruiser could be in the works

It is very likely that a future Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series could be fitted with a hybrid V6 powertrain sometime in its lifespan.

Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series 2022 front — The current Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series could be next for a hybrid drivetrain

We have previously speculated that the Land Cruiser 300 Series might just gain a hybrid setup after it was revealed that the US-market Toyota Sequoia would feature the same ‘I-Force Max’ hybrid system as the Tundra.

The Sequoia runs on the same TNGA-F platform as the Toyota Land Cruiser that is sold in several variants in Australia.

This 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V6 engine makes outputs of 325kW/790Nm in the Sequoia.

Toyota Tundra Limited 2022 front hill — The Land Cruiser’s hybrid heart could come from the Tundra/Sequoia

For the US-only-for-now Tundra pick-up truck, the base I-Force petrol V6 has outputs of 260kW/550Nm, while the top-of-the-range I-Force Max produces 325kW/790Nm – just like the Sequoia.

Will this engine even fit into a Land Cruiser?

Likely, yes, as the 3.3-litre twin-turbocharged diesel engine currently installed in the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series is already quite a large unit.

The current 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel engine in the Land Cruiser

However, one of the main differences between these two engines is the placement of the turbochargers. For the diesel engine, the two turbos are placed in the ‘hot vee’ of the engine, while the twin-turbo petrol V6 places the turbochargers on each side of the engine, making it a wider package.

The 3.3-litre turbo-diesel V6 engine is a big unit – 266kg – which is 100kg more than the old-school 4.0-litre Toyota V6 used in vehicles such as the Hilux ute and the Prado.

Adding the hybrid V6 engine will of course add more weight and complexity, however if the Sequoia has managed to make it work, we can’t see how it couldn’t work successfully in the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series.