Everything We Know About the Ineos Grenadier
This Land Rover Defender knockoff looks to be an old-fashioned SUV.
Ineos
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The Ineos Grenadier is what happens when off-road enthusiasts have free rein to design their dream-exploring machine. Looking startlingly similar to a Land Rover Defender, the Grenadier promises excellent four-wheel-drive capability, simple electronics, and hopefully, the reliability that evaded the original Defender.
What Is Ineos?
Ineos is primarily known as a global chemical company that has also dipped its toes into fashion, health care, and sports. When Land Rover discontinued the classic Defender in Britain back in 2016, Ineos owner and Defender super-fan Jim Ratcliffe decided to put his billions to use and do something about it. Thus, the Grenadier was born.
Keeping the Grenadier Simple
Under the hood is a BMW-sourced 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder engine with 281 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque. That is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission putting the power down to all four wheels all the time. A center differential lock is standard, but front and rear locks can be had as extras. The Grenadier also has excellent off-road geometry, nearing that of the Jeep Wrangler.
However, while the Wrangler, Ford Bronco, and Mercedes-Benz G-Class all take on-road performance into consideration and offer things such as hill-descent control, lane-departure warning, and cruise control, the Grenadier takes a more old-school approach.
The SUV is built with a simple ladder frame, uncomplicated electronics, solid axles, and a body with plenty of 90-degree angles. There are no drive modes and no adjustable dampers, just a coil-spring setup providing 10.4 inches of ground clearance. In a world where seemingly every off-road vehicle has an electronic button or dial for everything, the Grenadier is an old-fashioned rig.
Will the Grenadier Be an EV?
The company will offer a diesel version of the Grenadier, but not in the U.S. The New York Times reports that hydrogen and all-electric platforms are being developed, but it seems Greg Clark, executive vice president for the Americas at Ineos Automotive, doesn't see those as options for the 7,716-pound SUV.
"For the customer who wishes to get off the grid," said Clark to The New York Times, "an EV powertrain is incongruous with the Grenadier's positioning in today's world." Storing enough power to move that amount of mass would require, according to Clark, "an untenable amount of battery weight."
And while Ineos owner Ratcliffe might be British, don't look for any new factories to be built in the United Kingdom. The company will use an old Daimler factory in France that was originally built to produce the diminutive Smart Fortwo. The company hopes to roll 25,000-30,000 units off the line each year and is planning to open 30 to 50 dealerships in the U.S. However, Ineos hasn't yet given any clue as to the price of the Grenadier.
