Image credit: Isuzu UTE Australia
Key Takeaways
- The D-Max EV is not coming to Australia, after Isuzu Ute Australia had already confirmed it. Isuzu's Thai export arm said it will not export the BEV D-Max here "at this time"
- Isuzu Ute Australia executive Rod Caldwell was quoted as saying "customers don't want it", pointing to a rival electric ute selling around 30 a month
- No hybrid and no plug-in hybrid D-Max is slated for Australia either. Chasing Cars reports electrified versions are more likely with the next generation, expected around 2028
- Every Isuzu we list as on sale in Australia is diesel, and Isuzu was reported as planning to stay that way until the next generation
- Isuzu's own offers page today runs from $38,990 to $79,990 drive-away across the 25.5MY D-MAX range, with six years of warranty
- The D-Max EV would have towed 3,500kg. No electric ute we list as on sale in Australia is rated that high today
If you have been holding off on a new ute because an electric D-Max was supposedly on the way, stop holding off. It is not coming. Isuzu Ute Australia had already confirmed the battery-electric D-Max for Australia, and that plan has now been pulled, with nothing hybrid or plug-in lined up behind it. For an Isuzu buyer, the practical upshot is simple: diesel, for years yet.
We checked Isuzu Ute Australia's website on 1 October 2026: the home page, the D-MAX section, the offers page and the news archive. The D-MAX EV appears nowhere, and the newest item in the newsroom is dated 22 June 2026. So everything below about the cancellation is what Australian outlets reported on 30 September, attributed to Isuzu, kept apart from the figures Isuzu Ute Australia actually publishes.
What Isuzu Was Reported to Have Said
The statement attributed to Isuzu Motors International Operations Thailand, as reported by CarExpert, is that "the decision has been made not to export the BEV D-Max to Australia at this time due to the need to prioritise products that align with our current customer needs". Isuzu Ute Australia executive general manager Rod Caldwell put it more bluntly in the same report: "Customers don't want it." He was quoted pointing at a competitor's electric ute selling about 30 a month, and estimating Isuzu would manage roughly a third of that.
Speaking to CarsGuide, Caldwell was reported as saying "our customers are not screaming for it, our dealers are not screaming for it", and that Isuzu did not want to push a BEV on buyers purely to help its emissions position. Chasing Cars reported the same argument from its own interview, plus the number Isuzu keeps returning to: diesel is 84 per cent of light commercial vehicle sales year to date.
What is not behind it matters more than the cancellation. Asked about a plug-in or a hybrid, Caldwell was quoted as saying he could not tell you today whether it would be a PHEV, a diesel hybrid or another kind of hybrid, because Isuzu does not know yet. Chasing Cars reported that an eight-year model lifecycle points to new-generation D-Max and MU-X models around 2028, with electrified versions more likely to arrive alongside them. None of that is confirmed timing.
What Isuzu Is Actually Selling You Instead
Here is what Isuzu Ute Australia prints on its own offers page, checked on 1 October 2026. Every one is a turbo-diesel, because Isuzu Ute Australia has no other powertrain on sale here. These are drive-away prices, not list prices before on-road costs, so they are not comparable with an RRP.
| 25.5MY D-MAX | Engine | Drive-away |
|---|---|---|
| Turbo-diesel automatic (Isuzu Ute Australia sells no other fuel type) | ||
| 4x2 SX Single Cab Chassis | 2.2L | $38,990 |
| 4x4 X-RIDER | 2.2L | $56,990 |
| 4x4 X-TERRAIN Crew Cab Ute | 3.0L | $69,990 |
| 4x4 TOUR MATE LS-U | 3.0L | $73,990 |
| 4x4 TOUR MATE LS-U+ | 3.0L | $76,990 |
| 4x4 BLADE | 3.0L | $79,990 |
Isuzu attaches a six-year warranty, seven years of roadside assistance and five years of flat-price servicing to those offers, plus up to $3,000 of free accessories on eligible vehicles bought and delivered between 1 October and 31 December 2026, for private, ABN and business fleet buyers only. Read the terms before planning around any of it, and run the numbers through our fuel cost calculator while diesel sits where it does.
The Electric Utes You Can Buy Today
The D-Max EV would have been a genuinely interesting workhorse. Our preliminary listing, built from overseas figures, has a dual-motor 140kW and 325Nm, a 66.9kWh battery, 263km of WLTP range, a one-tonne payload and a 3,500kg braked tow rating. That last number is the one Isuzu buyers would have cared about.
We list six electric ute variants on sale here, across three nameplates: the Toyota HiLux BEV, the KGM Musso EV and the LDV eT60. Their braked tow ratings are 2,000kg, 1,800kg and 1,000kg. The MG U9 EV is the one to watch: MG Australia lists it as coming soon with up to 430km WLTP and 3,500kg braked towing, but it is not on sale and MG prints no price on that page.
Pick two
The diesel D-Max against the electrified utes on sale
Pick any two. The D-Max EV is absent because it never went on sale here, and the MG U9 EV because it has not gone on sale yet.
| Spec | Isuzu D-Max LS-U (diesel) | Toyota HiLux BEV SR5 |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $70,907RRP, before on-roads | $82,990RRP, before on-roads |
| Electric-only range | N/Ano plug, cannot run on battery alone | 315 km |
| Braked towing | 3,500 kg | 2,000 kg |
| Payload | 995 kg | 715 kg |
| Fuel use | 7.1 L/100km | N/Abattery electric, no fuel figure |
| ANCAP | 5 starstested 2022 | 5 starstested 2025 |
| Warranty | 6 yr150k km | 5 yrunlimited km |
Prices are the ones listed on CarSorted and sit on different bases: some are RRPs before on-road costs and some are drive-away. The D-Max figure here is our listed RRP and has not been checked against Isuzu, whose own campaign drive-away prices are in the table above. A plug-in hybrid's combined fuel figure is measured from a full battery and is not comparable with a diesel's. Figures come from our car database, which is built from Australian manufacturer documents. A blank field reads “No data” rather than a zero or a dash.
Why 3,500kg Was the Whole Point
A tow rating on its own tells you very little. The number that decides what you can really do is the gross combination mass, the most the ute and the trailer may weigh together. On our figures a 4x4 D-Max crew cab has a 3,100kg GVM, a 3,500kg braked tow rating and a 6,000kg GCM. Add the first two and you get 6,600kg, which is 600kg more than the GCM allows. Hitch the full 3,500kg and the ute itself, people and gear included, can weigh no more than 2,500kg. The LS-U weighs 2,105kg at the kerb, which leaves under 400kg for everyone aboard and everything in the tray, and the 350kg tow-ball load has to fit inside the GVM as well. The electric utes are tighter again, because a battery eats the same budget. Put your own trailer and tow-ball weight in below.
Payload 1,065 kg · GVM 3,100 · GCM 6,000 · Braked tow 3,500 · Tow-ball 350 kg
Passengers, accessories and the tow-ball all count against the vehicle's payload and GVM. The trailer adds to GCM.
Total weight of people and gear inside the vehicle
Fully-loaded trailer weight, not the dry tare
Assumed at 10% of trailer ATM
Enter both from a weighbridge / your compliance plate to add a rear-axle gauge. Nothing here is estimated.
How these are calculated
Payload = GVM − kerb weight. Passengers, accessories and the tow-ball download all count against it.
GVM used = kerb + passengers + accessories + tow-ball.
GCM used = kerb + passengers + accessories + trailer (ATM). The tow-ball isn't added twice: it's part of the vehicle load and comes out of the trailer's axle weight, so (kerb + load + tow-ball) + (ATM − tow-ball) = kerb + load + ATM.
Tow = trailer ATM vs the braked rating. Tow-ball is assumed at 10% of the trailer (a common rule of thumb) unless you enter your own.
When a vehicle's kerb weight isn't published but its payload is, we derive kerb = GVM − payload. Manufacturers usually quote payload off the lightest build, so a car with options already fitted will have a little less real-world payload.
Vehicle weights (kerb, GVM, GCM, braked-tow and tow-ball limits) are the manufacturer's published figures from our database. Figures are a guide, not independently verified. Confirm against the compliance plate and never exceed rated GVM, GCM, tow or tow-ball limits.
The D-Max EV is not in that calculator and never will be. We hold no Australian GVM, GCM or tow-ball rating for it, so the overseas 3,500kg figure was never something you could plan a caravan around here. For a whole rig, our TowingSorted planner does the same arithmetic with the trailer included.
So What Should You Do?
If you were waiting for an electric D-Max, stop waiting. There is no replacement plan to wait for either. The next realistic window for anything electrified wearing a D-Max badge is the next generation, which Chasing Cars puts around 2028, and even that is not confirmed by Isuzu Ute Australia.
If you need 3,500kg and you want a plug, the plug-in hybrids are where the market actually went. The Ford Ranger PHEV, the GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV and the BYD Shark 6 Performance are all rated at 3,500kg braked in our listings, and all three run on battery for short trips.
If you simply want a D-Max, nothing here changes the car. Same ute, same offers, same six-year warranty, and now a clear signal it stays that way for a while. Offers across the market are on our deals page. The overseas figures for the D-Max EV stay in our listing as a record of what was announced.
Disclaimer: D-MAX drive-away prices, the warranty, roadside and servicing terms and the accessory offer are as published by Isuzu UTE Australia on its offers page, home page and D-MAX range page, all checked on 1 October 2026; drive-away prices carry Isuzu's own conditions and the accessory offer applies to private, ABN and business fleet buyers on eligible vehicles bought and delivered between 1 October and 31 December 2026. The cancellation of the D-Max EV, the statements attributed to Isuzu Motors International Operations Thailand and to Rod Caldwell, the 84 per cent diesel share and the 2028 next-generation timing are as reported by Australian motoring outlets on 30 September 2026 and are not published by Isuzu UTE Australia, whose website does not mention the D-MAX EV. D-Max EV specifications are preliminary overseas figures held in our listing and were never confirmed for Australia. Rival prices, masses, tow ratings, range and ANCAP figures are the ones listed on CarSorted at the time of writing and sit on different price bases. MG U9 EV details are from MG Motor Australia's MGU9 EV page, checked on 1 October 2026, which shows an overseas model and carries no price. Confirm price, specification and availability with a dealer before ordering.