The Ineos Grenadier is one of the more exciting SUVs on the market. Since its debut back in 2020, the rugged off-roader has won fans with its looks, which are heavily inspired by the original Land Rover Defender. Now, Ineos is preparing to do something that Land Rover hasn’t: electrify the Grenadier and turn it into a battery-powered electric vehicle.
According to a report from Autoblog, the British automaker is now working on an EV version of the Grenadier, after kicking off production of the gas-powered variant last year. The battery-powered model could one day join the original Grenadier SUV and the recently-launched Grenadier pickup truck, which premiered at the Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month.
If it makes it off the page and into reality, Ineos has some lofty ambitions for the Grenadier EV, telling Australian outlet Carsales.com that the model was designed to be “unbeatable” off-road. As Autoblog reports:
“The BEV is due in production early next year, Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder spoke to Australian outlet Carsales about it. She said the off-roader is ‘going to be a skateboard-style platform — a monocoque is really the only way to go when you’re converting a Grenadier into an electric vehicle’.”
A skateboard-style layout would be in line with the platform Rivian uses to make its R1T electric pickup truck, which has also proved itself as a worthy off-roader since its launch. The layout has proven popular for many EVs as it packs the batteries in the car’s floor, keeping its center of gravity low.