2023 Toyota Tundra Hybrid

After the gas-only previous generation was on the market for 14 years, a brand-new Toyota Tundra Hybrid joined the Tundra range for the first time during its 2022 redesign, sitting on the same new TNGA-F body-on-frame platform as the Tacoma. Toyota USA builds full-size trucks its own way, so the Tundra is the only one not available with automatic 4WD or a V8. Still, its i-Force MAX hybridized twin-turbo V6 delivers a strong 437 horsepower and class-leading efficiency. Its reinforced composite bed and car-like coil-spring rear suspension are highlights, too; other rivals still use traditional leaf springs. Speaking of rivals, it goes up against the Ram 1500 Hybrid and a Ford F-150 Powerboost hybrid since Chevy has no Silverado hybrid, just the electric Silverado EV. The Tundra Hybrid holds on to Toyota's proven hybrid tech to lure buyers. It's quite expensive, though, because the hybrid powertrain is only available from the Limited trim and up, along with the CrewMax body.

The base price of the new Toyota Tundra Hybrid Limited is $56,415. Next up is the Platinum at $64,505, the 1794 Edition at $65,205, the TRD Pro at $70,920, and the Capstone at $77,645. These are for the trims in their base configurations, which is to say with the 5.5-ft bed and 4x2 on the bottom three trims. Upgrading any of them to the 6.5-ft bed will cost $330 and upgrading from 4x2 to 4x4 will cost $3,000. The TRD Pro and Capstone are available in 4x4 with a short bed only. These prices for the Toyota Tundra Hybrid are MSRP and exclude the $1,795 destination fee.

The i-Force MAX hybrid powertrain offers strong performance and will get to 60 mph in less than six seconds, so overtaking and merging are painless. It even allows fully electric driving on the highway, but with the electric motor only developing 48 hp, the gas V6 quickly kicks into life when you press the accelerator deeper. The engine is refined but emits a (synthesized) growl when you press on. The brakes feel strong and the steering is light and precise, so except for the inevitable difficulty of maneuvering a full-size truck, the new Toyota Tundra is as easy to drive as a Tacoma. Ride quality is excellent on the coil springs so it almost matches the class-leading Ram 1500, but it still falls short on towing capacity. The driving experience varies according to which Tundra you get and what you want to do with it. The TRD Off-Road package usefully boosts off-road performance and the TRD Sport package lowers the suspension for more agreeable on-road handling. Though not quite the Baja racer the F-150 Raptor is, the Tundra TRD Pro with its trick Fox shocks is a very capable off-roader.

Toyota has not tried to make a Tundra for everyone; considering the development cost of trucks and the fact that Tundra sales are around one-eighth that of the F-150's, that's understandable. One could argue that providing all the variety that the domestic trucks offer would boost sales sufficiently, but this might not pay off, and this a game that Toyota chose not to risk. So it has cherry-picked the features it wants to focus on, such as refinement, efficiency, and ride quality, making them excellent, while still offering two cabs and three beds. But unlike the competition, the Tundra offers no models with a center diff or automatic 4WD, no all-EV version, no V8 engine, and middling towing numbers. That should matter little to people who buy the Tundra for its strengths, but it's likely to keep it off the podium, both in terms of ability and sales, so it remains the perennial outsider in the full-size truck wars, excellent as it is.

The 2023 Toyota Tundra Limited arguably has everything you need to get comfortable and, although the seats aren't leather, the SofTex leatherette is pleasing enough, and comes with heating and ventilation for the eight-way power front seats. In addition, you get the fully featured infotainment system and all the TSS 2.5 driver assists, along with the standard 437-hp engine that all the trims get, so it hardly lacks features. If we were to review the rest of the Toyota Tundra range, the Platinum might stand out as the best trim for families. It has a convincing luxury feel with its leather upholstery, climate-controlled rear seats, wireless charging pad, sunroof, and premium audio system is probably the best-balanced trim. It also benefits from a surround-view camera - a boon when parking a big truck. It's quite pricy at over $64k, but it's the best-balanced trim in the lineup. But if you want to indulge in some rough off-roading, the TRD Pro is the best Tundra Hybrid, though the F-150 Raptor is the better truck.