The capability of a truck lends itself to life in Northern Ontario. If your hobbies include boating, camping or fishing, a truck just makes more sense. You can haul your toys, furniture and camp supplies, navigate back roads in comfort and escape to adventure.
And when the weekend’s over, hose the truck down and drive to work on Monday.
Unfortunately, there’s a bit of an existential crisis facing some pickup truck owners these days.
Fuel costs are soaring to record highs across the country, leaving many passionate truck drivers to question how long they can continue pumping money into their tanks.
On the other hand, some truck drivers have already solved that problem by exploring hybrid truck options like the 2022 Toyota Tundra outfitted with the powerful and efficient i-FORCE MAX engine.
“We’ve been in the hybrid game for 25 years so it’s nothing new to Toyota,” said Mario Palumbo, dealer principal with Sault Ste. Marie’s Northside Toyota. “Hybrid vehicles are better for the environment. When they’re in electric mode it reduces emissions. They’re also much more efficient than gas-powered vehicles.”
The new Toyota Tundra Hybrid comes with an excellent fuel economy feature, with large batteries that are easily rechargeable without having to plug them in.
“The Tundra uses both gas and electricity to optimize fuel efficiency,” added Palumbo. “Regenerative braking stores power for hybrid trucks to use in combination with the energy created by a gas engine.”
Hybrid powertrains consist of gas engines and electric motors that work to add more power to the vehicle and put less strain on the engine.
“Hybrid pickup trucks ultimately reduce truck ownership costs by optimizing fuel efficiency to get more runs out of less fuel.”
Hybrid vehicles have definitely been stigmatized – there’s a lot of misinformation and myth out there suggesting that a truck powered by a hybrid engine provides inferior performance.
The Toyota Tundra easily dispels those myths.
At the heart of the 2022 Toyota Tundra hybrid is the iForce Max, a twin-turbocharged 3.4-litre V-6 hybrid engine standard on the TRD Pro model but also available on all but the SR and SR5 models.
Why is that important?
Because the iForce Max generates 437 horsepower at 5,200 RPM and 583 pound-feet of torque at 2,400 RPM. Compare that to the standard non-hybrid V-6 that makes 348 horsepower in the base SR model or 389 horsepower in others. Now, that’s a lot of numbers, but they all add up to one conclusion that according to Palumbo truck drivers will fully appreciate.
“The new Toyota Tundra Hybrid model is simply more powerful than gas-powered engines,” said Palumbo. “They produce more horsepower and deliver more torque and towing power. These are rock solid vehicles. Any way you look at it, they’ve got it covered.”
Find out more about the ground-breaking Toyota Tundra Hybrid. Visit Northside Toyota online.