Sir Jim Ratcliffe has shelved plans for his Ineos Automotive business to build an electric vehicle only months after a model was unveiled, citing low consumer demand and a lack of clarity over the government’s policy on net zero.
In February, the petrochemicals tycoon revealed an all-electric Fusilier, intended to be available also as a hybrid variant and as a smaller sister vehicle to the Ineos Grenadier, an all-terrain 4×4 developed after Jaguar Land Rover’s decision to abandon its old-style Land Rover Defender.
In a statement, Ineos Automotive said: “We are delaying the launch of the Ineos Fusilier for two reasons: reluctant consumer uptake of electric vehicles and industry uncertainty around tariffs, timings and taxation.
“Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in most markets continues to grow and consumer confidence will match that, but for the industry to meet net-zero targets there needs to be long-term clarity from policymakers and a number of technology options available considering factors like raw materials, infrastructure and affordability.
“We are committed to bringing an electric vehicle to market not just because of legislation but because we want to: it is the right thing to do. But as a new small-volume manufacturer we can only produce vehicles that will sell. The Fusilier is an electric vehicle but also provides the option of a range extender that uses a small low-emission petrol engine to charge the electric battery when external charging isn’t available.
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“This low-emission solution for longer journeys or where charging is not possible would still be banned in both Europe and the UK in 2035, if not earlier in the UK should Labour be elected into government this week.”
Ratcliffe, a Monaco-based tax exile who has made his billions in hydrocarbons in the oil, gas and chemicals industries, is making a habit of publicly criticising governments and regulators over decarbonisation policies.
He spent millions of pounds developing a hydrogen variant of the Grenadier, only to shelve plans for commercial industrialisation because of the lack of hydrogen refuelling networks.
Even at the launch of the Fusilier, Ratcliffe, 71, declared himself an electric sceptic. That launch talked of the all-electric Fusilier having a 250-mile range, but Ratcliffe confessed that, given the choice, he would prefer to drive the range-extended, petrol-hybrid version.
“You have to have a green offering because the regulators say so, whether we like it or not,” he said, “but you cannot force the consumer to buy something they do not want. The consumer should have the choice.”
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Referring to the recent slowdown in electric car sales in Britain and Europe, he said: “The consumer is saying they don’t want to buy one at the moment. You cannot force it down their throat, otherwise they will start voting with their feet.
“There are two huge failings of electric vehicles. You cannot always get from A to B and you cannot always find a charging place that is available or that doesn’t have a queue. You can’t be too idealistic about it. You cannot have an ‘ideal solution’ if the customer does not want it.”
The plan had been to produce the Fusilier in the Austrian factory of Magna Steyr, a contract manufacturer, but the production schedule had already been put back until 2027 at the earliest.
Ratcliffe, who owns a 29 per cent stake in Manchester United, originally had said that Ineos Automotive would manufacture in south Wales before changing his mind and taking Grenadier assembly to France. He has said he has also looked at moving production to China and America.
He has dismissed suggestions that Ineos Automotive is a rich man’s vanity project, saying that the plan is for the business to be “commercially viable”.
