Up Close: Toyota A-BAT Hybrid Pickup Concept
The very first new car I ever owned was a 1985 Toyota pickup. As a college student, I loved it. It offered freedom, a sense of adventure and it was completely stripped. No radio, no rear bumper, a bench seat, manual window cranks, you name it.
Now, more than 20 years later, small pickups like that one are an endangered species, but Toyota’s A-BAT concept takes trucks like the Honda Ridgeline and Chevy Avalanche and boils them down to something more the size of my first truck.
Maybe most important to today’s young drivers, the A-BAT is a hybrid, keeping trips to the gas station few and far between.
The A-Bat seats up to four — double what my truck held — and offers suicide doors for easier access. The concept has a funky yellow interior that I’d hate but my teenage son would love.
Other features he’d love include a retractable navigation system, Wi-Fi internet access and solar panels on the dash to power the nav and some other systems.
Basically, this truck looks like a Ridgeline that Godzilla stepped on, but I’d be happy to give it a try and bring back those driving days of my youth.
