The next-gen Toyota Tundra pickup is around the corner, and it’s way overdue. The current Tundra has been around since the 2008 model year and although the truck has received a few updates since, its basic architecture, powertrains, and capability have not changed much. When you’re competing against players like the much newer Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and excellent Ram 1500, you gotta bring your A-game to the table. Well, it looks like the 2022 Toyota Tundra may be up for the challenge—or at least entering the arena with more adrenaline than before.
New Base Engine, Who Dis?
During an interview with MotorTrend, Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota North America, revealed the new Tundra will have two all-new powertrains.
The base engine will be “a core powertrain that’s substantially more powerful in terms of horsepower and torque than the current V-8,” Carter said. We take that to mean the new engine will make more than the 381 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque churned out by today’s 5.7-liter V-8. We do not yet know whether that new engine will be a V-8 engine or a turbocharged V-6, but we’re looking forward to increase in base-engine capability.
Fresh, Unknown Tech
The optional powertrain incorporates a new technology “that will blow you away,” according to Carter. It remains to be seen whether that’s a battery electric, a hybrid, or a hydrogen powertrain—Toyota has all three in its portfolio—the automaker already confirmed its plans to build a battery electric and hybrid truck. (We don’t know if it’ll be a midsize Tacoma, full-size Tundra, both, or something new.)
“We have our concept and our own technology that I think you’ll be impressed,” Carter said. He hesitated to give us more details on the truck, but said we should get all the information in September. “We’re in it to win it,” he added.
The 2022 Tundra will be built at Toyota’s plant in San Antonio, Texas, which will also build the next-gen Sequoia full-size SUV. Production for the Tundra will start in November, and Toyota expects the Tundra to be arriving in dealerships in December. Now we know it’ll have two new engines more up to the task of mixing things up with the diesel, hybrid, and forced-induction engines offered by the competition.
