The 2022 INEOS Grenadier will soon be joined by a smaller member of the hard-core 4x4 off-roader family, but there’s a twist.
In a promotional video released on social media, INEOS Group boss, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, said the smaller 4x4 will not simply be shorter take on the 2022 INEOS Grenadier wagon that will soon launch in Australia to take on the Land Rover Defender.
Instead, the INEOS Grenadier ‘Shorty’ will feature an all-electric powertrain and sit on an all-new platform that is believed to have been developed to underpin all future battery-powered vehicles.
Despite its zero-emissions powertrain, there will be no shift in focus for the smaller INEOS, according to the car-maker, with the Shorty retaining the Grenadier’s “workhorse DNA and off-road capabilities”.
There’s no timeframe for the Shorty’s arrival but the new model will be built alongside the Grenadier wagon and Grenadier ute at the former Smart factory in Hambach, France.
Pitched at farmers as well as city dwellers, the shorter INEOS could project more of a lifestyle bent that the current Grenadier, but it won’t be a shrinking violet.
Said Ratcliffe: “You need to embrace the future which clearly in an urban environment is going to be electric. But even in a country environment, if you’re a farmer, you probably will have an electric vehicle you can drive around on tracks and things like that.
“So you want one that’s capable, but it’s electric. I think that’s our vision at the moment.”
As well as announcing the shorter battery-electric INEOS, the 4x4 start-up has confirmed it will continue developing its hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Grenadier with trials of mules fitted with the FCEV tech set to begin on- and off-road testing before the end of this year.
Only a few months back, INEOS Automotive chief executive Dirk Heilmann said FCEV was the only form of electrification currently under consideration for the Grenadier, arguing that the heavy weight of a battery pack “defeats the purpose” of the 4x4 off-roader.