Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid to come in gasoline & diesel options? [Update]

Update: ‘New Toyota Land Cruiser U.S. launch’ section added.

Soon after the launch in 2021, Toyota had stated on its Japanese website that there’s a 4-year waiting period for the new Toyota Land Cruiser series in the local market. After receiving an overwhelming amount of orders for the SUV, the brand had issued an apology, confirming a waiting period of close to half a decade.

Toyota unveiled the highly anticipated 2022 Land Cruiser 300 in Dubai on June 9, 2021. Internally called ‘Toyota J300,’ this new-generation model is the successor to the J200 Series introduced in September 2007.

In this story, we discuss everything known about the Toyota LC300. TopElectricSUV learns of a hybrid variant in development for the future, explaining the model’s tracking. Note that Toyota has not officially confirmed a hybrid for the LC family, and with the long waiting period, the electrified variant may not emerge before 2024.

Exterior

Video Source: YouTube/Toyota Global

The 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser features a classic SUV design interpreted in a modern fashion, exactly how hardcore Toyota Land Cruiser fans and recurring customers prefer. Upright pillars and fascias, high-positioned hood, straight body lines, and a boxy silhouette pay little heed to aerodynamics, but that’s what being “style worthy of the cream of the 4WD crop” demands.

The 2022 Toyota Land cruiser has a familiar silhouette but in a more stylish avatar. At the front, the three-eyed headlamps are slimmer, straighter, and more advanced technologically; the radiator grille has a cleaner design in a larger footprint and four horizontal slats instead of three, and the hood features a tubular recess in the center. The featured image shows multiple bumper designs, including a more rugged type for a ‘GR Sport’ variant.

On the sides, the greenhouse is stylish with a new rear quarter glass. The front windows also have a new design, but the change is noticeable. The outside rearview mirrors have a curvy shape. The LC200, in comparison, had a simpler greenhouse and ORVMs. At the rear, the tail lamps are slimmer, wider, and more advanced, and there’s no chrome strip on the tailgate to maintain a clean design. Overall, the Toyota Land Cruiser looks more upmarket and presentable to the elites and VIPs, who’d also form many customers worldwide.

Interior

Toyota has spruced up the interior of the Land Cruiser with a dashboard that looks slimmer, a more compact, car-like steering wheel, a floating widescreen infotainment system, and a neater floor console. There are many, even though fewer, analog controls, but that is just the way that hardcore Land Cruiser fans would prefer their car. The door handles have been borrowed from the new Toyota Venza (also called Toyota Harrier).

The instrument panel has a much larger and more intuitive driver information display nestling between the speedometer and rev counter. Toyota offers a semi-digital instrument cluster in two versions, both with an analog speedometer and an analog tachometer. The base version features a 4.2-inch driver information display between them, while the top-end version has a 7-inch driver information display instead. Toyota designers have drawn inspiration from the auto industry’s minimalist themes. However, the interior is still relatively traditional compared to big SUVs that have arrived in the last few years.

12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system, head-up display, wireless charging, four-zone climate control system, six USB ports (two in the front and four in the rear) are some of the main comfort and convenience features.

The LC300 is the first Toyota vehicle to feature a Multi-Terrain Monitor that displays the obstacles ahead from the driver’s point of view on the central display. It gives a real-time view of the road surface beneath and immediately surrounding the vehicle, and the position of the wheels. A new Multi-Terrain Select system automatically selects the most suitable driving mode after judging the quality of the driving surface.

Specifications

Toyota says that the Land Cruiser 300 is just about as long and wide as the Land Cruiser 200. The same applies to the wheelbase and the departure and approach angles.

For models like the new Land Cruiser, Tundra and the next-gen Toyota Prado, TMC has developed a new TNGA platform version, called TNGA-F. The frame of the 300 Series model is 200 kg lighter than its predecessor. In what’s a world-first feature, an electronic Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System (e-KDSS) is available in the LC300. Toyota says that it provides great off-road performance, thanks to a larger suspension stroke achieved by effectively disabling the front and rear stabilizer bars.

Toyota announced the new Land Cruiser in three engine variants: FJA300, VJA300, and GRJ300:

Aspect	FJA300 Specs	VJA300 Specs	GRJ300 Specs
Engine Name	F33A-FTV	V35A-FTS	1GR-FE
Engine Type	Twin-Turbo Diesel	Twin-Turbo Gasoline	Naturally Aspirated Gasoline
Engine Displacement	3.3-liter	3.5-liter	4.0-liter
Engine Layout	V6	V6	V6
Transmission	10-speed automatic	10-speed automatic	6-speed automatic
Power	227 kW (309 PS)	305 kW (415 PS)	271 kW
Torque	700 Nm	650 Nm	385 Nm

On the Toyota Land Cruiser Hybrid

Sean Hanley, the VP – Sales and Marketing, of Toyota (Australia), had said that the company plans to fully electrify its Australian line-up, including the Land Cruiser and Prado off-road SUVs, by 2030, as per a CarsGuide report dated November 7, 2022. Australia and Japan could be among the world’s first markets to get the Land Cruiser Hybrid.

We will continue to evaluate the market in Australia and strive towards increasing to a powertrain mix that includes a form of electrification across our vehicle range by 2030, excluding GR and performance models.

Sean Hanley, Vice President – Sales and Marketing, Toyota (Australia)

Australia is one of the biggest markets for the mammoth off-roader, and the company will have high hopes for the next-gen model in the region. Given the usually extended lifecycle of the LC family, it is obvious that the Land Cruiser would live beyond 2030 and take on electrification.

Previously, the company had confirmed that the On February 10, 2021, Toyota Motor said that by 2025, Toyota and Lexus models will come with electrification.

Between now and 2025, Toyota and Lexus models, globally, will have an electrified option.

Toyota on February 10, 2021 via Toyota pressroom

According to Japanese media reports, Toyota is considering three options for electrifying the Land Cruiser and the Land Cruiser Prado:

Mild Hybrid

Previous reports have said that a mild-hybrid system is an optimal solution for entry variants because full-hybrids are comparatively heavier, and the stock Toyota Land Cruiser is a leviathan. A mild-hybrid system is comparatively lighter and could knock off a chunk of the SUV’s emissions (at least during its regulatory testing) thanks to its start-stop system and regenerative braking with energy recuperation, while protecting the price.

i-Force Max Hybrid

Japanese media has also speculated that the 3.5-liter V6 is the engine variant that would be fully-electrified. This could be the same i-Force Max powertrain from the Toyota Tundra that also packs an electric motor. In the Toyota Tundra, this hybrid powertrain generates swathes of power and torque. Headline figures are 437 hp and 790 Nm (583 lb ft), with power sent to all the wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The electric motor could draw power from a 288-volt Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) battery and improve the vehicle’s efficiency at low speeds with the aid of regenerative braking. Like in all Toyota hybrids, the electric motor will greatly help in reducing emissions and improving fuel economy as it offers driving limited distances in EV mode.

Diesel Hybrid

A report Best Car published on July 30, 2021, suggested that Toyota is developing a new 2.5- or 3.5-liter diesel-hybrid engine. On November 5, 2022, Best Car indicated that the company will use two motors to assist this engine, both running on energy stored in a lithium-ion battery pack. The Land Cruiser Hybrid could get this system in markets where diesel is preferred.

Safety

The new Toyota Land Cruiser has earned an impressive 5-star rating at the Australiaasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) on January 20, 2022. This safety rating applies to all variants launched in Australia and New Zealand, except the GR Sport which is unrated. 

The SUV garnered an 89% score in adult occupant protection, 88% in child occupant protection, 81% for vulnerable road user protection and 77% for safety assist systems. The Land Cruiser’s foundations are robust as it is based on the new TNGA-based GA-F platform, which has reduced the SUV’s weight by 200 kg and improved its structural rigidity.

The SUV comes packed to the brim with safety equipment with 8 airbags, autonomous emergency braking, as well as a lane support system with lane keep assist (LKA), lane departure warning (LDP) and emergency lane keeping (ELK). An advanced speed assistance system is standard across variants.

New Toyota Land Cruiser U.S. launch

There are signals to say that the launch of the next-generation Toyota Cruiser in the U.S. is a realistic scenario. In an interview with MotorTrend, Jack Hollis, executive vice president, Sales, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), indicated a Toyota Land Cruiser 300 U.S. launch will happen eventually. Asked if the Land Cruiser will return to the U.S., he said “I would say likely yes,” MotorTrend reported on December 1, 2022, adding that “it’s still a ways off.”

“It’s gone for 2022, but I think it’ll be back soon and way more modern and luxurious,” a local dealer source of Car And Driver had said in December 2020. It looks like Toyota isn’t planning permanent discontinuation, and perhaps strong demand from key markets like the Middle East countries, Japan, and Australia has the headquarters prioritizing supply. The Land Cruiser accounts for 300,000 units/annum sales and is sold in over 170 countries (June 2021 data).

TopElectricSUV says

Sales of the Land Cruiser might not be impacted by soaring fuel prices, but they must be electrified to ensure environmental compliance. Sooner or later, emission norms will force Toyota to offer it as a hybrid.

2022 Toyota Land Cruiser FAQs

Featured Image Source: Toyota