2024 - NEW I-force-max hybrid Taco - for towing?

Aloha, I have my Gen 2 Taco and starting towing a 3500 trailer 2 years ago (and we live in Colorado so we go over mountains to get anywhere). With an added trans cooler and scan gage we do fine - mountains are not super fun however. We wanted to see if we liked rv'ing - and we do! It is about time for a new Truck (I have poured money into my Taco the last 2 years after 12 years of almost nothing). A new Taco is my first choice for daily driver - but a Tundra is obviously the winner for towing (even our lighter weight). My question is - I see the new Taco hybrid out in early 2024 will have a LOT more horsepower and torque... so I wonder if this will be a big enough 'upgrade' in our towing experience? (the Tundra's are SO big now - didn't used to be so huge). What do you all think of the soon to be new beefed up hybrid Taco?

 

Assuming it’s reliable this would be a massive upgrade. The hybrid has 465ft/lbs at 1700rpm vs the 4.0’s 278ft/lbs at 3700rpm.

 

The hybrid may have lots more power, but how much payload will it have? I can't imagine a 2nd drive system with an electric motor (or motors) and a battery is going to be light.

 

There is more than hp/tq to consider. If you tow often, the larger fuel tank of the Tundra is a huge advantage.

 

Keep in mind that the battery setup in the hybrid only provides that peak power while the battery lasts. Once the battery is discharged (smarter people than me can calculate that time) you are just hauling around the extra weight until it can recharge. On a long uphill pull you'll have the extra oomph until you don't, and then you're at the non hybrid power numbers with extra weight. Not likely to be a problem unless you're making your way up a long incline for over a minute, or similarly trying to accelerate frequently and wear down the charge.

Personally, I'd look at non-hybrid numbers and see what trips your trigger, because the times you'll want the extra power most are the exact times you might run out of juice.

 

It’s a single motor integrated into the transmission and a small 1.9kwh battery. Depending on how the battery is packaged that’s about the size of two Group 24 batteries.

 

So you are probably losing 150 pounds (or so) of payload. That would knock my truck firmly out of being able to haul my camper with just me and my wife in the truck. Obviously, payload will vary from what my 2023 DCSB 4WD can haul compared to what the new model can, but I would think if you are towing a camper, you're probably going to deplete the battery rather quickly and just that system as extra dead weight.

But, I will admit that I do not know how/when the battery system will kick in to provide needed assistance. It might work spectacularly.

 

Payload is increased to 1709 lbs in the 2024 i-force hybrid, which is more than your 2023. So you are gaining, not losing payload on this new TNGA platform. Also see the Tundra for how the I-force system works. It doesn't just deplete all its juice like that, it is constantly charging while the motor is running just like your regular battery does from the alternator. It would be extremely rare for the battery to run to full depletion and not ideal for long term battery health, which is why it stays in the happy medium zone constantly charging and discharging and not charging itself to full and then depleting all the way to zero.


To OP, towing on the new TNGA platform with the increased power will be much better than the anemic 3.5.

 

As mentioned in anoher post the starting payload of the 4th gen is several hundred pounds higher so it should be about a wash with the hybrid weight added. The battery pack is recharged during driving so that shouldn’t be a problem. Obviously none of this is known for certain yet.

For perspective - my Rivian averaged about 2.2 miles driven per kWh. That’s powering four motors with 900ft/lbs and moving 7000lbs. The Tacoma hybrid motor is only 148ft/lbs to provide a boost to the drivetrain.

 

• I know Toyota had made hybrids for awhile and they know what they are doing but still I would never buy a new model like that the first year they come out. Wait til they are out for awhile and they have all the problems worked out. There’s too many unknowns here and we don’t know what problems will be inherent in them. Don’t be the Guinea pig.
• For towing Id take a regular gas Tundra any time over a Taco. The only draw back to a Tundra is their everyday gas mileage. But Tacos don’t get great mileage either. And nothing gets great mileage towing. If you have the choice go with a tundra.

 

Mid-2024 for the hybrid models.

 

HD turbo diesel or gas V8, for what you are going to pay for a hybrid 4cyl Tacoma that you plan to tow with. The HD truck isn't much bigger than a Tundra.

 

Towing isn't only about power. It's brakes, transmission, cooling and WEIGHT. A bigger truck typically handles the weight better

 

OP, Your towing experience @ 3,500lb and altitude with a 4G hybrid will be much better than your 2nd Gen. At sea level your 4.0L, when new, made 278 lb-ft of torque @ 3,700 RPM. @ 6,000 ft it is at least 18% less (3% per 1000 feet of elevation).

The 2024 SR5 (2.4L Turbo) makes 317 lb-ft of torque and with the turbo will be much closer to full power at altitude.

The 2024 with hybrid max is 465lb-ft and Toyota is claiming…..and a whopping 465 lb.-ft. of torque, nearly doubling the torque output of the current-gen truck with the V-6 engine. When equipped with i-FORCE MAX, Tacoma can ascend an 8-percent interstate grade without the need to downshift.

Increase the number of gears to 8 (even with a double overdrive), add turbo and it perform just fine.

My experience, my 2G sucked unloaded at altitude and sucked even more more towing at altitude. So, yes, you will be much better in your specific situation. Even if Toyota overstated (which I personally doubt), it will be much better.

If you want a bigger truck by all means consider it. Your numbers are in the range of what I consider reasonable for a Tacoma.

 

As others mentioned, its peak torque when rolling off the line, it wont push you all the way up a mountain at 400+ lbs.

It's a great system but there's gonna be some growing pains, and lots of complaints I'm sure.

So far we've had no issues with tundras hybrid system, no complaints of fuel economy either.

 

There have been lots of complaints over on Tundras.com though.

 

Of the hybrid system though? Seems like majority of the complaints have been about turbos, wind noise, and not having their second key fobs.

 

With the truck in general, but one for the hybrids is that it's not much better on mileage. Marketing has done such a good job of entwining hybrid with huge MPGs that there's lots of people that just incorrectly assume that they should be getting good mileage from a system geared toward better torque for towing. Not sure that'll follow into the Taco, but I won't be surprised.

 

Fully agreed. Marketing makes you correlate hybrid with increased fuel mileage when in this case, it's just more power. I have a feeling it'll follow to the tacoma as well. Each truck manufacturer is always trying to outdo the others when it comes to power. Even though Toyota has always been more conservative on that aspect.

 

Toyota is marketing and advertising the I-Force Max as a performance hybrid. 465 ftlb of torque and 325HP show up early and often. The electric motor is in line with the 8-speed transmission to add 150ftlb @ 0RPM. It's pretty clear to me it is around performance first and then, whatever moderate MPG it can get is a bonus.

I can compare this directly to our Lexus RX hybrid (essentially same power train as a Camry hybrid and Highlander hybrid). That drive train is centered around MPG. The architecture uses a planetary gear CVT. The 2.4L is a long stroke engine with 14:1 compression and 40% thermal efficiency. They advertise efficiency, it delivers efficiency (36MPG no matter how you drive it).

Toyota knows what they are doing and are being very deliberate in their design choices.

I-Force Max = Performance. In this case that performance is great drivability and an improvement over any and all prior Tacoma powertrains. And, maybe, it will get a consistent 20MPG, even around town.