Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe gears up for electric Defender

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Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe signs deal with Korean car giant Hyundai to produce zero-emission versions of his new Grenadier 4X4

By Ray Massey for the Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has signed a deal with Korean car giant Hyundai to produce zero-emission versions of his new Grenadier 4X4. 

The hydrogen-powered electric off-roader is expected to cost between £30,000 and £45,000, and will go on sale in early 2022. 

The Grenadier was designed to fill a gap in the market for a stripped back 4×4 after Land Rover stopped making the Defender in 2016. 

Deal: The hydrogen-powered electric off-roader (pictured with Sir Jim) is expected to cost between £30,000 and £45,000

Sir Jim, who owns chemicals giant Ineos, will supply the gas fuel to a network of hydrogen filling stations. The two companies announced they had signed a deal ‘to explore together new opportunities in the hydrogen economy’. 

The car will be built in France – not Wales as some hoped. 

Hyundai already makes a hydrogen car. Its Nexo fuel cell car costs £65,995 and has a range of 414 miles. Honda, Toyota and Wales-based start-up Riversimple also use hydrogen power, which is seen as a way to leap-frog the current battery-technology. 

But drivers are currently only able to fill up at a handful of fuelling stations in the UK.

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