A-BAT project

[haven]

In two weeks, Toyota will show its A-BAT project truck at the Detroit Auto Show. The A-BAT is a compact truck built with a unibody rather than body on frame. The truck is like a Honda Ridgeline, only smaller.

The interior has lots of space up front, and seating for occasional rear passengers.

The bed is 4 feet long in its standard configuration. The rear of the cab folds down like the mid-gate in the Avalanche to create a 6 foot long space with the tailgate closed. Walls of the rear fenders open to provide additional storage, too.

The A-BAT is designed to slot into the Toyota price structure below the Tacoma. I expect the A-BAT will be available with a standard 4 cylinder gas engine, with a hybrid optional.

The vehicle in the photos is a show car, so I doubt that the production vehicle will be quite as flashy. And that's a good thing.

Chip Haven

 

[Haggis]

That looks awfully simlar to the Dodge Rampage show truck last year, except that one had a rear pull out loading ramp for quads and bikes. I hope this trend of small, narrow windows comes to an end soon.

 

[Willman]

Wow.....Looks like we are really getting "back the future", but in a 4x4!


Not to bad!

:REOutArchery02:

 

[Desertdude]

I like it - looks like it would be fun to own and drive.

 

[gearbox]

I hope they reconfigure it with a "normal" steering wheel, larger windows and more visibility. Looks very sporty.

 

[haven]

Pickuptrucks.com is reporting that Toyota has decided to
sell a truck based on the A-Bat concept.

http://www.pickuptrucks.com/html/ne...y-toyota-abat-a-go-tundra-diesel-shelved.html

The A-Bat is pretty small, shorter than the current version of
the RAV4. The bed is 4 feet long. You can lower the rear
wall of the cab to create a flat space big enough to carry a
sheet of drywall.

Most reports talk about a 4 cylinder gas engine, with
Prius-like hybrid battery operation available. I have not
seen any report of a 4x4 version of the A-Bat.

Chip Haven

 

[Cackalak Han]

I don't understand what the target market will be here. Who are they reaching out to? :smilies27

 

[Co-opski]

I don't understand what the target market will be here. Who are they reaching out to? :smilies27

David Hasselhoff and the crew to Bay Watch.

I should not talk I have a frontier.

 

[laxtoy]

no solid rear axle= less cargo capacity, less wheel travel, it looks like it is just a ridgeline knock off, cool concept but not for me. seems they are going for the outdoorsy tech-nerd weekend warrior type, which infest the seattle area, who want 4x4 badging so they don't lose traction on their way from the paved main road to the gravel christmas tree farm parking lot!

 

[haven]

Sounds like the A-BAT pickup may be comng to Scion dealers in the 2014 model year.

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2011/0...ng-in-2014-based-on-toyota-a-bat-concept.html

 

[Flagster]

Prius ABAT hybrid???

 

[Martinjmpr]

Well, it's a little on the fugly side but I'm glad someone is finally adapting the disappearing mid-gate concept in a compact vehicle. I couldn't understand why other manufacturers didn't do that way back when.

The problem with 4 door compact trucks is that either they have a full length bed, which makes the vehicle ungainly and difficult to maneuver, or they have a small bed, which is much less useful. The disappearing midgate solves both problems and gives true "utility" to the sport/utility vehicle. IMO the Subaru Baja failed precisely because of this - the concept vehicle had a disappearing midgate but the final product didn't (it had a lame little cargo door in its place.)

Imagine a vehicle about the size of a current DC Tacoma, but with a disappearing midgate. It would give you the ability to sleep in the back of the truck (or haul an 8' piece of wood with the tailgate down) and still be available to carry 4 passengers (although not at the same time as you were using the full length of the bed.) I think that would be the perfect overland vehicle.

 

[Overland Hadley]

the car-based A-BAT

I can not understand car based "trucks."

If you want a car, buy a car. I you need a truck then buy a real truck, that can do work. Not a wagon with an open back.

 

[INSAYN]

I can not understand car based "trucks."

If you want a car, buy a car. I you need a truck then buy a real truck, that can do work. Not a wagon with an open back.

+1! :iagree:

My other truck is a 1997 F350 Diesel crew cab 4x4, with manual locking hubs, manual operated transfer case, black vinyl floor, a full 8 foot bed, seats 6 adults, and rides like a truck! Sure it has the turning radius of a school bus, but there's no way I would trade this, or my Tacoma in for a half *** car/truck hybrid unit that the only gleaming advantage of it is that it would fit in compact parking.

 

[Hilux_Max]

With the new fuel economy requirments Obama states that all US vehicles must have by 2020 or thereabouts on the news yesterday it looks like no mor seperate chassis, hybrid drivetrains of some sort to ahcieve the crazy fuel economy figures the govenrment wants manufacturers to produce.