A-BAT Predicts Toyota Pickup of the Future

A-BAT Concept Photos

Smaller, leaner and lighter... that's the direction of tomorrow's pickup truck. (Photo: Toyota)

It's got solar panels on the dash and AC/DC jacks for all your power needs. (Photo: Toyota)

At home in the city, or hauling your waterproof gear. (Photo: Toyota)

Like most automakers, Toyota, which is currently on the verge of earning the title of “World’s Biggest Car Manufacturer”, vigilantly maintains awareness of what’s going on in the automotive world. It pays attention to what’s hot and what’s not, and it pays particularly close attention to its most direct competitors. This is an important point when considering what its big reveal at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit will be. The A-BAT Concept vehicle is the brand’s take on the unibody pickup truck (re: Honda Ridgeline).

The A-BAT, as you might have guessed, is based off the Toyota Highlander platform, which in turn was developed from the Camry. And like the Highlander, it has all the creature comforts associated with a crossover rather than a traditional truck. Styling-wise, Toyota’s California design team studio has veiled this softer-roader with some heavy duty styling that gives the A-BAT a chunky, stubby appearance. With big, angled buttresses for rear pillars plus geometric fenders and panel work, it’s a tough looking machine that fits with many other Toyota pickup truck concept vehicles from the past.


Unlike most of those concepts, however, the A-BAT is not a large vehicle, not at least by pickup truck standards. It’s smaller than the smallest Tacoma (single cab, short bed) by nine whole inches, which means that it’ll be easy to maneuver and park in the city but probably not the best cargo hauler. Truly, the A-BAT’s primary goal is hauling people around, as there isn’t much of a bed left over. Toyota figures that a four-foot box should be good enough, and cleverly it can be extended into the cab with a GM-style midgate system, an idea that was pioneered with Chevy’s Avalanche pickup truck. With the tailgate and midgate down, the A-BAT can haul the industry standard 4×8 sheet of plywood. Instead of an in-bed trunk like the Ridgeline, the A-BAT features a sliding drawer beneath the bed. Accessible from the rear, Toyota’s slider system solves the Ridgeline’s problem of not allowing access to the trunk while the bed is loaded.

The A-BAT is powered by Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system, of course, but it’ll be the four-cylinder version instead of the V6 that’s being featured in the Highlander. This should give the truck decent fuel economy ratings and will surely avoid criticisms from eco-mentalist types. It wouldn’t make much sense for Toyota to offer a pickup truck with front wheel drive only, so we’re betting that its engine will drive all four wheels, or, two wheels via the gasoline-powered engine and two via a rear-mounted electric motor, like the Highlander Hybrid.

Toyota rarely builds a concept without it being pertinent to future products, and rumor has it that its US-only “youth” brand, Scion, is contemplating a pickup truck. The A-BAT sounds like the perfect fit for the brand, not to mention the perfect match for the Weekend Warrior.