Ineos reveals Fusilier BEV 4x4

Ineos Automotive has revealed its third new model: a BEV which will be called the Fusilier, following the military theme of the Grenadier and Quartermaster.

The Fusilier BEV will be offered as both a full-time BEV or with a range-extending, small-capacity petrol engine that powers a generator to maintain the charge level of the battery when external charging isn’t available. Further details of the alternative powertrain and launch timings are expected by Q3 of 2024.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Chairman of Ineos, said at the unveiling: “The Fusilier is a great-looking vehicle, and the two powertrain options provide a real-world reduction in carbon emissions without compromise to the off-road capability or the on-road performance.

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“We’re excited to bring our electric 4x4 to market but we are beginning to understand the clear limitations of battery electric in certain situations.

"We believe the addition of a range-extender electric to our line-up will offer our customers a very low emission drive without the range anxiety drivers of electric vehicles experience today.”

While the supplied images of the new Fusilier show a vehicle similar in design to the Ineos Grenadier, the new model is in fact smaller and built on a different platform to the ladder-frame chassis that is shared by the Grenadier and Quartermaster.

This vehicle will use a unibody chassis specifically designed as a BEV, but it’s claimed it will not compromise off-road ability.

It will be slightly shorter in length and slightly lower in height and will ride on a bespoke ‘skateboard platform’ with a steel top section and underbody, as well as aluminium doors and closures for reduced mass.

“It’s a completely different concept, and yet still trying to get the same or as close to the best off-road capability that we can get,” Ineos Automotive CEO, Lynne Calder, told 4X4 Australia when visiting Australia in 2023.

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“We've engineered the Grenadier using the ladder frame and the solid beam axles, to get the off-road capability that we've got.

"Having to now, with a completely different concept, a unibody, skateboard battery configuration, but get the same ground clearance, the articulation and everything that goes with what we've built from the off-road DNA perspective, but in a completely different concept.”

Further differentiating the Fusilier from the Grenadier and Quartermaster models is that it will be manufactured by Magna at its plant in Graz, Austria.

The existing models are made at Ineos’s plant in Hambach, France. Ineos used Manga for the development of its previous models and again relied on the specialist automaker for development, but is extending its involvement with full production of the Fusilier.

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This will include a rigorous testing programme on Austria's Schöckl mountain, which is famous for being the test site of the Mercedes Benz G-Wagen for more than 40 years of development.

“Announcing our third model line is another significant milestone for Ineos Automotive, cementing our intent as an automotive manufacturer – like our full vehicle line-up, we are here for the long-haul,” said Ms Calder.

While confirmation of if and when the Fusilier is expected to arrive in Australia is yet to be confirmed, Ineos does say Australia is an important market for its brand. Read what you will into that, but we reckon we’ll see it some time late in 2025 or thereabouts.

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Ineos also showed a Grenadier Hydrogen Fuel Cell concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2023, to show that the technology for a hydrogen-powered 4x4 is capable and ready for production. It also said at the time that the refuelling infrastructure needs to be in place before it is commercially viable.

“When we built it, the plan was that it was a precursor for a series development vehicle, and it was purely a hand-built, uncompromised Grenadier,” said Ms Calder.

“We've shown that we can do it.”