The Toyota A-BAT Hybrid Concept

Over the past 15 years, small pickup trucks in North America have transformed from somewhat practical mini-haulers into slightly smaller versions of their bigger cousins in the full-size market.

This steroidal growth has made these ostensibly smaller pickups much more capable than their initial versions, particularly when it comes to hauling and towing capacity, but their size has made them less practical in an urban environment.

Enter Toyota, who has apparently decided that what the world really needs is a truck that isn’t quite big enough to be useful, but still isn’t quite small enough to be convenient.