Almost as quickly as the Ineos Fusilier was born, it’s been shelved. Back in February, the small automaker announced plans for its all-new third model. The Fusilier is a smaller SUV that was to be available as an EV or as a range-extended EV. Now, Ineos says it’s delayed indefinitely and that just sucks.
The Fusilier was set to be a very unique vehicle in the market. Two eco-friendly powertrains, several of the features we already like from the Grenadier and Quartermaster, and rugged good looks. Having the choice of an EV or BEV made it unique as well and was a central piece of the design.
At the launch, Chairman of Ineos, Sir Jim Ratcliffe said, “As we developed this vehicle, we quickly concluded that in order to move towards decarbonization but continue making cars that consumers want to drive, we need a mix of powertrain technologies. BEVs are perfect for certain uses: shorter trips and urban deliveries, but industry and governments need to have realistic expectations around other technologies that can help accelerate the necessary pace of change. That is the reason we are offering an additional powertrain for the Fusilier, one that dramatically reduces emissions but has the range and refuelling capabilities needed.”
The EV segment doesn’t really have too much like that to choose from right now. Evidently, that gap in the market is going to continue for some unknown amount of time. “We are delaying the launch of the Ineos Fusilier for two reasons: reluctant consumer uptake of EVs, and industry uncertainty around tariffs, timings and taxation,” the company said.
So it sounds as though Ineos failed to garner the customer interest it had hoped for but legislation played a big role too. Bloomberg highlighted in its coverage that the range-extender created a problem beyond design and construction. It would’ve been banned in 2035 or possibly earlier.
Some of the writing was on the wall though. Autocar rightly points out that Ratcliffe made critical comments about electric vehicles. “Our instinct was to follow the industry with an EV, but a few months ago we paused. My big problem with EVs is that there are two huge failings: they don’t do A to B as a decent journey and you can’t then fill it up,” he said.
Now the question is whether or not another brand will step in to fill the void. The resulting vehicle would need to be off-road ready, fuel efficient, and not too big either. The Rivian R2 platform might be the closest thing to production but it doesn’t look as boxy and Jeep/G-Wagon-like as the Fusilier. Who do you think should aim to fill the tiny gap in the market left by the Fusilier?
(Photo credits: Ineos)
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I am not sad. We have tons of SUV options.
There’s an Ineos dealer near me and they have 30+ Grenad-ers on the lot. It’s cool that they tried, but just a quick walk around reveals lots of quality questions.
With the kind of fitment gaps they have in the body hardware, I suspect the owners are going to have some interesting water/ice ingress issues.
It sounds like they’re really dedicated to their mission of keeping the vintage Range Rover experience alive!
One got traded in here at the Land Rover dealer I work at, for surprise – a Defender. I drove it around a little, and it’s definitely a cool vehicle, but some gaps were as bad as gaps on some Teslas I’ve seen. The ride was pretty rough too. I guess that is to be expected with it’s suspension.
We should be sad that a British G Wagen EV knockoff isn’t being produced?
As if there aren’t enough f***ing SUVs on the planet?
Show me a beautiful 4 seat EV Coupe or Convertible that’s priced under $75,000.
That will be something I’ll get emotional over.
$74,999 is still WAAAY too much to get worked up about. $20k? Now you’re talking.
This was not the EV that city bound people needed. Nor was it the EV that rural businesses needed. Which is kind of the Ineos Grenadier story in a nutshell…
No loss, looks like a very mildly updated Nitro.
Ineos has been somewhat of a mess, and this thing smelled like vaporware from Day 1.
The issues with the current rigs mean anyone with a brain should stay away…or should have, since this thing is dead
From the Ineos owners I’ve spoken to, they should have delayed the ICE version.
Fusilier is okay, but I’m a spaghetti traditionalist myself.
Fusilli Jerry? -Cosmo Kramer
A plug in hybrid G-Wagon
An LX600 plugin (Prime, if you will) would be pretty awesome if executed well.
As for a full EV, the compromises required to make one with decent range basically compel you to end up with something like the Hummer. So I think it will be a while before a successful one hits the market.
Sth like the Ram Powerwagon powertrain could be great I think… if it wasn’t Stellantis executing the idea!
“ The Rivian R2 platform might be the closest thing to production but it doesn’t look as boxy and Jeep/G-Wagon-like as the Fusilier. Who do you think should aim to fill the tiny gap in the market left by the Fusilier?”
Immediate thought was, isn’t this basically a different looking rivian? Then read the last paragraph. So rivian.