JIM RATCLIFFE'S OIL GIANT INEOS PUTS BRAKES ON ELECTRIC VEHICLE PLANS
- Plans to produce electric vehicle in 2027 was announced five months ago
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos has shelved plans to launch its first electric vehicles due to ‘reluctant consumer uptake’ and a lack of clarity on net zero policy.
The decision by the petrochemicals group and fledgling carmaker, owned by the British billionaire and Manchester United stakeholder, comes less than five months after it announced plans to start producing Ineos Fusilier EV models in 2027.
Ineos said it was ‘delaying the launch... for two reasons; reluctant consumer uptake of EVs and industry uncertainty around tariffs, timings and taxation’.
The ‘green’ project ‘is paused but categorically not abandoned’, a spokesman said. The company stressed it was ‘committed to bringing an EV 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’. Recent data has showed a slowing of purchases of electric vehicles in the UK and abroad, blamed on high prices amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The Ineos Fusilier is a slightly smaller version of the Ineos Grenadier.