Toyota Revives ‘Scion’ as a Turbo Hybrid UTV Concept With 300+ HP

Scion coming back in 2025 wasn’t on my automotive bingo card, but maybe it should’ve been. Then again, it’s not like Toyota is resurrecting its youthful budget brand in the way we remember it. Instead, the Japanese auto giant has revived the name only and attached it to this wild side-by-side concept that combines electrification with a turbo four-cylinder engine. The result is the Scion 01 Concept, which Toyota built to “surpass current SXS products in power, capability, and range.”

I’m just sad it’s not going into production.

Toyota has toyed around with side-by-sides before. Just look at the hydrogen-combustion Lexus UTV that was a collab with Yamaha. I rode in that thing on an off-road course near Fuji Speedway a couple of years back, and it was a riot. The Scion Concept 01 promises to be even rowdier, though from what I can tell, they aren’t offering test rides around the SEMA show floor in Las Vegas where it’s currently on display.

Toyota says its high-output, turbo four-cylinder hybrid makes more than 300 horsepower—a good amount more than the supercharged Kawasaki Teryx H2, which is the industry’s most powerful unit at present with 250 hp. The powertrain is supposedly derived from Toyota’s truck lineup, which makes me think it’s akin to the battery-assisted 2.4-liter in the Tacoma and 4Runner TRD Pro. If so, the manufacturer has tuned that combo to 326 hp and 465 lb-ft of torque in roadgoing applications, and it can run around in electric-only mode at low speeds.

It would be straight-up stupid to shove that much power into a UTV, but y’know, in a good way. The entire project is a design exercise headed up by Toyota’s U.S.-based CALTY crew. Additionally, Toyota Chief Engineer and Vice President of Vehicle Performance Development Don Federico explained, “It’s the intersection of advanced performance and our deep enthusiasm for adventure. By bringing those worlds together in a side-by-side format, we’re exploring how Toyota performance can live in entirely new spaces—and inspire a new generation of enthusiasts to get out and go.”

In that sense, it makes sense to slap the Scion name on a rig like this. That moniker has always been synonymous with trying new things, like selling a toaster-shaped car in the U.S. And although this one-off side-by-side concept makes way more power than any production Scion ever, it feels like an appropriate continuation of what that brand was all about—except the budget part, of course. This thing would probably cost $60,000 or more if it ever made it to market.

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