Yahoo Finance Ineos Just Unveiled a New All-Electric SUV That Can Go Anywhere
Ineos Automotive has revealed its third model, a slightly smaller, more road-biased electric SUV. The Fusilier was unveiled by the marque’s founder, the British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, at The Grenadier, his pub in London’s Belgravia. The idea for Ineos Automotive was hatched at the bar, and the first model is named after the former watering hole for soldiers.
The new Fusilier echoes the military nomenclature of the Grenadier SUV and the Quartermaster crew-cab pick-up, but swaps their simple, tough, slightly agricultural ladder chassis and BMW internal combustion engines for an electric motor on each axle and a Samsung battery pack which will give a range of around 250 miles.
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Despite a bespoke EV “skateboard” chassis which should give better road manners than the more rugged Grenadier, the Fusilier aims to match its sibling for off-road performance. To ensure it can not only take you into the wild but get you back out again, a range-extender version will also be offered in which a small, highly-efficient gasoline engine running at constant revs can recharge the battery. The REX version will have a slightly smaller battery pack than the pure BEV, with an electric-only range of around 170 miles, but a much longer range with the gas engine running. Average emissions will still be around a quarter of those of an ICE-engined SUV.
The exterior styling is the work of former yacht designer Toby Ecuyer, who created Sir Jim’s yachts and is now Head of Design across the Ineos Group. The Grenadier was criticized for its similarity to the original Land Rover Defender and the new Fusilier bears more than a passing similarity to the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, alongside which it will be built under contract by Magna in Austria.
Seen in the steel, the Fusilier is a better-resolved design than the Grenadier. It retains many of the Grenadier’s distinctive design features, such as the exposed door hinges and the exterior accessory mounting rails, but its less upright profile looks more dynamic and has clearly been aero-optimized to cut drag and increase range. The interior hasn’t been revealed but will echo the analog, switch-heavy approach of the Grenadier, with the same aircraft-style overhead control panels.
“We have to make EVs whether we like it or not, and we do like it because it’s good for the world,” Sir Jim told Robb Report at the Fusilier’s launch. “Everyone in Europe is going down the pure EV route, but in the US especially they’re less convinced, and we think that there will be more than one answer. The consumer should have a choice. You can’t force one solution down people’s throats, because that one solution won’t suit everyone. We like to do things differently, and question things, and so a few months ago we paused, and added the range extender.
“I live in Monaco and drive an electric Smart there. It’s perfect – I have zero range anxiety. But if I’m going skiing in Courchevel I’ll take my petrol Grenadier, or a G-Class. If I was buying the Fusilier today, I’d buy the range extender. It would still be an electric vehicle, and I’d still feel good about it.”
The addition of the second drivetrain option will push the on-sale date of the Fusilier back by around six months to the first half of 2027. Prices have not been confirmed but with the battery alone costing three times as much as the gas powertrains in the Grenadier, the slightly smaller new car will be more expensive. Sales volumes are anticipated to be similar, and as with the Grenadier, the United States will be the Fusilier’s largest market. A fourth, smaller Ineos SUV is also being developed but remains at an early design stage.
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