The Ineos Grenadier plans to plug the gap left by the Land Rover Defender. It's a proper off-roader that can handle a little bit more than a tall kerb at the local supermarket. It's a car that can take you to the ends of the earth then bring you back again.
To do it, it has permanent four-wheel drive with locking differentials at the front, middle and back, low and high range gears, steep approach, break over and departure angles and proper knobbly off-road tyres.
It also comes pre-wired for additional lighting and a winch and is available with a snorkel that’ll help keep dust and sand from entering the engine in dry clima
While there’s rugged appeal in the Ineos Grenadier that’s sure to tickle your fancy if you have previously bought an old Defender, Toyota Landcruiser or Mercedes G-Wagon, the Ineos was originally conceived to be a commercial vehicle. One that could be sold to everyone from telephone companies to breakdown services and the military.
So, as well as being able to spec it as a conventional SUV, you can have it as a two-seater van or a crew cab pick-up. And it has a trick up its sleeve because the Ineos can act as a generator, powering your tools when you arrive on the job.
The Ineoe’s generators/engines are BMW 3.0-litre straight six units in either petrol (285PS) or diesel (245PS) forms, both of which come hooked up to an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
As a result, the Ineos should feel a good deal more polished than an old Land Rover Defender, although it has a similar utilitarian feel on the inside.
Sure, you get a 12.3-inch digital instrument binnacle with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but you also get a sea of conventional buttons that’re chunky enough to make it easy for you to operate them with gloves on.
The Ineos’s sophisticated drivetrain and resulting bulky transmission tunnel means the Grenadier doesn’t feel as roomy inside as its substantial exterior dimensions may have you believe, however a couple of removable glass roof panels help light up the interior.
The back’s suitable for adults but it also has Isofix mounts for the safe fitting of child seats and the rear seats split 60:40 so you can carry big loads and still have room for one or two people.
Valves in the floor mean you can attack the interior with a hose without flooding it – cleaning muddy foot marks and errant food deposits has never been such fun.
If you like the sound of all of that – how couldn’t you – you can reserve an Ineos Grenadier now with a non-transferable £450 deposit. Prices are expected to start from £48,000 for a two-seater van version, while crew cab and regular SUV models will carry a £6000 premium. Deliveries are expected to begin in the middle of this year.
