There are rumors that Toyota is working on a hybrid version for their Tunda pick-up. The Hybrid Tundra will be available by 2010. Masatami Takimoto,a V.P. of power train development at Toyota, stated that current efforts by Toyota’s design teams to reduce costs of the key hybrid components will most likely result in the cost of hybrid powertrains to be equivalent to that of a gasoline powertrain by 2010.

All current powertrains could be produced in a hybrid configuration right now at roughly the same cost, if the market would support them. Currently Toyota’s production of hybrids is limited only by demand.

Most importantly for future Tundra owners, the use of lithium ion battery packs allows economic charging from a much larger engine than the current technology. Currently a V8 is too much engine for a hybrid — a V8 can generate more power than a decent sized NMH battery pack can store. But with new lithium ion packs a large V8 could be used in a hybrid without sacrificing any efficiency. The extra storage capability of a decent sized lithium ion battery pack would prove useful in towing and hauling situations, something that can’t be said about the current NMH packs which would need to be huge to be able to offset fuel consumption for much more than stop and go traffic.