2024 INEOS Fusilier electric SUV revealed

INEOS Automotive has revealed its third model – the all-new off-road SUV to be positioned below the hard-core INEOS Grenadier large SUV and the INEOS Grenadier Quartermaster dual-cab 4x4 pick-up – and it will bring an added twist of electrification.

Dubbed the 2024 INEOS Fusilier and developed on the same iconic Schöckl mountain as Mercedes-Benz G-Class, the new off-road SUV looks like the smaller, smoother love child of a Grenadier wagon and a Mercedes G-Wagen.

But it will trump the pair of them in the powertrain department since it will be offered globally with two electrified powertrains – full battery-electric and an innovative range-extender EV system targeting up to 700km of range.

So the first electrified INEOS vehicle – launched overnight in London’s Grenadier pub, where INEOS chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe hatched his original plans for a car company – will go some way to de-carbonising an atmosphere already heavily carbonised by his first model.

While the Grenadier was launched only with (BMW-sourced) six-cylinder petrol and diesel power as a no-frills off-roader, the cleaner powertrains in the shorter, lower Fusilier will open up a new world of buyer groups for INEOS.

“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," said Sir Ratcliffe.

“As we developed this vehicle, we quickly concluded that in order to move towards de-carbonisation, 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 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.

“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."

INEOS Automotive COO Hans-Peter Pessler admitted that was a concern that had been magnified in the world of off-roading, where recharging opportunities are rare.

“The range-extender will give the Fusilier the instant torque delivery of the EV off-road, where it really helps, but without the worry of whether or not you can make it back on the road to a charging point,” he said.

Details of the new model remain few and far between at this stage, but INEOS says the Fusilier will be only “slightly” shorter in length and height than the Grenadier, making it a proper family-size 4x4 wagon.

The Fusilier will be underpinned by a bespoke EV 'skateboard' platform (not ladder-frame like the Grenadier) designed and developed by Magna Steyr and similar to that used in at least two Magna-built Chinese SUVs.

It will have a steel body and underbody for strength, though the doors and bonnet will be aluminium for weight-saving reasons, and suspension and motor sub-frames attached at either end, plus the potential for three rows of seating.

The EV version will have a flat, mid-mounted Samsung-sourced battery pack about in 100kWh capacity, an 800-volt electrical system, either one or two electric motors delivering up to 400kW of power and a WLPT range of 500-600km.

The range-extender version will offer a total range of 700km, with about 250km of that from the battery-electric system and the rest with energy provided to the battery by the combustion motor. Unlike a traditional plug-in hybrid (PHEV), the powertrain will always drive its wheels electrically, but INEOS says it is still investigating two levels of range-extender tech – one with a bigger battery and a smaller fuel tank, the other vice-versa.

A key part of the model’s development will be conquering the Schöckl mountain – the exact same Austrian peak used by Mercedes-Benz to hone and prove the prowess of its G-Wagen, including the upcoming EQG that will inevitably be pitched against the Fusilier, perhaps along with subsequent 2026 Mercedes-Benz g-Class.

INEOS said the new Fusilier builds on the Grenadier’s design DNA and bears “the instantly recognisable proportions of a traditional 4x4 with a suite of sophisticated features that successfully maximise its aerodynamic efficiency”.

These include chamfered edges and corners to improve airflow and visibility, active grille shutters to manage airflow and cooling, the extensive use of flushed glazing, the streamlined integration of features such as side steps, skid plates and boxed wheel-arches.

There's also Grenadier-mimicking 7.0-inch circular LED lighting front and rear, visible B-pillars between the doors, four-way roof strengthening, recessed but still visible door hinges and a wide, horizontal grille with twin LED work lamps.

“INEOS Automotive’s core values have informed the design from the beginning – practical, no-nonsense and solid off-road performance,” said INEOS Group Head of Design, Toby Ecuyer.

“The Fusilier stands with an assured posture and meaningful attitude – aerodynamically tuned to maximise efficiency without compromising its purpose.

“Softer lines, a curved, raked windscreen and underbody profiling, it is defiant of the homogenous norm, but stands approachable, adventurous and understood.”

As we reported a year ago, the second INEOS SUV will enter production in 2026, with the EV to arrive first and the range-extender version to follow in early 2027, because it wasn't part of the original plan. Exact market launch timing will be disclosed towards the middle of this year.

The Fusilier is now in development in collaboration with Magna, which will also produce the all-new off-roader at its Graz plant in Austria. The move to Magna production gives INEOS an EV short-cut in both time and investment, leaving it free to develop a fuel-cell electric (FCEV) variant of the Grenadier.

INEOS says it remains committed to hydrogen power, but admits production timing will largely be governed by infrastructure availability.

Today's Fusilier reveal comes as Australian deliveries of the Grenadier SUV – which is produced at INEOS' own plant in Hambach, France – finally take place in earnest Down Under, where the Grenadier Quartermaster ute will arrive later this year.

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