Toyota brings A-BAT pickup to Detroit: Concept is for work and play, in a green way

Suburbanites who haul themselves to work in the city, and haul stuff home from the hardware store, are the target buyers Toyota had in mind as it created the A-BAT hybrid pickup concept. The A-BAT will be one of Toyota’s two unveilings at the Detroit auto show in January.

The A-BAT is smaller than the Toyota Tacoma pickup and has a four-foot bed. But the concept uses tricks such as a sliding roof panel and fold-down mid-gate to be capable of carrying tall loads or the truck manliness standard of the four-by-eight-feet sheet of plywood.

For more storage, there are lockable drawers in the walls of the truck bed and a large drawer that slides out from underneath the truck bed.

The A-BAT rides on a unibody platform, a departure from standard pickup procedure.

Styling is marked by a thick C pillar, and wheels pushed to the corners of the truck’s footprint. The truck’s design comes from Toyota’s Calty studio in California.

The A-Bat’s shape was inspired by the silhouette of the Toyota Prius, Calty Project Creative Director Matt Sterling said in a statement.

Also inspired by the Prius is the concept truck’s powertrain–a four-cylinder gasoline engine mated to Toyota’s hybrid system.

Inside the A-BAT are seats for four. But the rear pair of seats can fold down, or slide into a storage compartment to create extra cargo room. The top surface of the instrument panel is lined with solar power cells to generate electricity for the concept’s portable navigation system.

SPECS

autoweek.com

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