Ineos’ Fusilier Will Be a Battery-Electric Off-Road SUV
Following the Grenadier and Quartermaster, Ineos is going electric with the similarly styled but smaller Fusilier, available in 2027 as an EV and with an optional range-extending generator.
The Fusilier will have approximately 200 miles of range as a battery EV, and the range-extended version will have a marginally smaller battery.
The new 4X4 will be slightly shorter and lower than the Grenadier and was developed with Austria-based vehicle assembler Magna Steyr, which will build the Fusilier at its plant in Graz, Austria.
The US seems to have an endless appetite for SUVs, including for vintage Jeeps, Land Rovers, and Ford Broncos with modern drivetrains and sound systems. Ineos, which builds new cars with some retro styling cues, is a bit different.
It’s a Britain-based global chemical company with 36 businesses, one of them being the automotive brand that turns out the BMW-powered Grenadier 4X4 SUV at a fairly reasonable price for such things—$71,500, with upmarket Trailmaster and Fieldmaster editions costing $79,190. The Grenadier, both retro and modern, was launched in 2022 and is now at dealers in the US.
The company got its start in 2017 when Ineos’ chairman and CEO, billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, decried the loss of the original Land Rover Defender (1990 to 2016, although in the US only 1993 to 1997). He was in a position to do something about it, though not with an exact copy.
And now Ineos is going electric with the similarly styled but smaller and smoother-around-the-edges Fusilier (built on “the Grenadier’s DNA,” the company says), available in 2027 as both a battery EV and as a range extender, using a small gas engine.
The new 4X4 will be both slightly shorter (178 inches, compared to the Grenadier’s 191) and slightly lower in height than the Grenadier.
The Fusilier was developed with Austria-based vehicle assembler Magna Steyr and will—like the Fisker Ocean and the Mercedes G-Class—be built at Magna Steyr’s facility in Graz, Austria. Magna has built more than half a million of those Benzes.
All of Ineos’ vehicles have military-inspired names. In addition to the Grenadier and Fusilier there’s the second product line, the Quartermaster, a crew-cab pickup version of the Grenadier, with US deliveries in the second half of this year.
With just those two models, Ineos has a product line roughly equivalent to that of Rivian, albeit without electric power. The Fusilier adds the plug.
In a statement, Ratcliffe said battery EVs are perfect for “shorter trips and urban deliveries,” and that’s the reason to offer a range-extended version of the Fusilier “that dramatically reduces emissions but has the range and refueling capabilities needed.”
Details about the Fusilier are just emerging. It will have approximately 200 miles of range as a battery EV. The range extender will have a marginally smaller battery but with the gas engine acting as a generator (not connected to the wheels), it will go further on a charge.
Where Ineos will source the electric motors and the range extender itself isn’t known yet, but the batteries will come from Samsung. And it’s worth noting that Ineos’ powertrain partner, BMW, had its own range-extended version of the i3 battery-electric hatchback.
Autoweek traded emails with Greg Clark, executive vice president for the Americas of Ineos Automotive.
Asked to distinguish between two of his company’s models, Clark said, “The Fusilier is intended for off-road adventures and urban exploration, while the Grenadier is a 4X4 created for the world, designed to go anywhere. While originally embraced by enthusiasts, the Grenadier has found a far broader lifestyle audience, which has exceeded our expectations.”
One Grenadier dealer in Britain reports a 14-month wait, prompting some flipping sales.
On the Fusilier launch date, Clark said, “Because we’ve stepped back slightly to investigate the range extender, it’ll likely be early-to-mid 2027 by the time Fusilier is out on the road. We are not expecting substantial delays, but we will be able to confirm timings later in 2024.”
Clark said choosing Magna Steyr as a manufacturing partner was something of a no-brainer. “Having worked with Magna on the engineering of the Grenadier, we’ve seen first-hand the value of applying their agility, knowledge, and expertise to a complete vehicle development program,” he said.
“So continuing our collaboration on this third model line is a natural next step. Adding that level of additional capacity at our Hambach (France) plant would require sizeable additional capital investment, and Magna already has that at hand. This focuses Hambach on the Grenadier, the Quartermaster, and perhaps future additional model lines.”
Bollinger Motors attempted to launch rugged, go-anywhere electric SUVs and pickups, the B1 and B2, but at a steep price—around $125,000. In 2022, the company abandoned those plans to concentrate on commercial trucks.
The Fusilier’s price isn’t known yet, but Clark says its new battery-based off-roader will be attractive to consumers. “The electric vehicle market is a very competitive one, but we believe the Fusilier will be the most capable electric off-roader out there,” he said.
“Brands that once produced off-roading 4X4s have shifted toward passenger-car-centric SUVs and crossovers or have positioned their vehicles at very high price-points.” He added that the range extender offers a way to assuage would-be customers worried about running out of juice.
Does the optional range-extending generator make the Ineos Fusilier more attractive to you as an EV? Please comment below.
