Owner calls for multi-fuel future after unveiling firm’s maiden EV
MARK TISSHAW
Electric cars are being “forced” onto the market to buyers who don’t want them, according to Ineos chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
He used the unveiling of Ineos’s first EV, the Fusilier 4x4, to call on British and European legislators to keep a much more open mind to other powertrain types beyond EVs and focus instead on the wider goal of reducing carbon emissions without pricing buyers out of the market and removing choice for them.
He and Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder also further detailed the Fusilier ahead of its 2027 launch.
EV ADOPTION
Ratcliffe pointed out that the US takes a different view to Europe in focusing on the wider goal of reducing the emissions of road transport towards net zero rather than legislating in favour of one particular technology before the market is ready for it.
“Part of what we do at Ineos is question all the time, not just follow the sheep,” he said. “Consumers should have a choice. We can’t force them. At the moment, they’re voting with their feet and not buying [EVs].”
OTHER FUEL TYPES
Ineos now no longer sees hydrogen as a universally applicable fuel but still considers it a relevant future part of the road transport mix, while acknowledging the huge cost and infrastructure concerns.
“We don’t know where hydrogen will end up,” said Ratcliffe, “but I think all things will find their place in the world of transport, with different solutions for urban, trucks, off-road… There are lots of different solutions that will optimised for a range of different solutions.”
He said biofuels are an “emotive topic” as “you’re planting for fuel, not food”. Putting that aside, he said they are “impacted too much on the whim of government policy” and according to what subsidies are available.
The ICE should be allowed to continue to thrive, added Ratcliffe, noting that the end of its development in Europe will affect carbon reduction in other markets that are not and may never be ready for EVs.
INEOS POWERTRAINS
While the Grenadier 4x4 and Quartermaster pick-up truck use BMW engines, the Fusilier is an EV, with its battery sourced from Samsung in Hungary.
There will also be a range-extender version of the Fusilier, using a small petrol engine as a generator for the motors. Ineos is in advanced talks wit
