I'm a little surprised at waisting time to try and develop a custom tire. Then say that the KO2 is an option. Seems like a waste of engineering hours and money.
The last thing I want is a custom tire on an expedition vehicle. When, I'm in the jungles of Borneo, I'm betting I'd have better luck finding a BFG KO2, than the custom IG tire.
It strikes me that the Bridgestone option is the more "Soft Roading" oriented tire -- it's still an AT, but that will be the tire of choice for the farmers and tradies who are looking to the Ineos to replace their old Defenders, given the new Defender doesn't do the same sorts of things. Those use cases are typically pretty "local" (i.e. easy access to home, work, and the tire shop in a given geographic area) so a unique tire isn't the end of the world.
The KO2 is the natural choice for the adventure travel types and is the most commonly recommended tire choice for overland travel in general, so that's an option for folks who have that use case. The overlap of this thing being "Built on Purpose" is on the wheels being 17" steelies (as mpinco mentioned).
I agree on Bridgestone doing a bespoke tire seeming like a waste of resources. But with a targeted production of only 25k units per year, there's not a lot of margin in it for Bridgestone to do all the R&D and production of a totally bespoke tire, so I imagine it's more to do with Bridgetone marketing to other 4x4 owners via the Ineos hype than it is about Ineos wanting a unique tire for the car.
Also, while I have no issue with the BMW engines, why not GM, Ford, Toyota or even Mercedes? Are not the modern BMW engines are kind of complex and picky?
Word from the company was that the use of the BMW platform was guaranteed world-emissions ready. I believe they made a comment about this on one of the Youtube videos but I don't recall which one. Why they couldn't get this same "emissions ready" approach from the other brands I do not know.
I am not sure what this car will do better in terms of overlanding than existing cars?
In my opinion, all of the currently available 4x4s are a much greater compromise for a typical expedition use case than the Ineos will be if they stay on target. The "basic" mid-sized 4x4s available here in North America are great for weekends away, but fill 'em with 4 adults and you may well be over GVM and pretty cramped, especially if you have even a modest amount of equipment. Full-size trucks are better on both load carrying and interior space, but the wagon form factor is a bit nicer for long-distance touring (keeps your kit relatively protected and dust-free), and the full-size trucks tend to be cumbersome in some off-road environments.
The vehicles that do really well at both hauling gear/people and off-road performance (both tasks that are typical of expedition work) like the Land Cruiser 79 series and Troopy are fantastic, except their design (interiors especially but not exclusively) are permanently stuck in the 1980s and they are only available in specific markets. The "new" Tourers (Modern day Land Cruiser, new Defender) have fantastically modern appointments and design, but that modern complexity extends to everything else on the car too, which makes them awfully complex for remote backcountry use.
The Ineos has a modern take on a proven design -- the "Fix it with bailing wire or weld it with a couple of car batteries" approach to being "Bush Proof" while simultaneously having (promised) a modern driving experience in terms of the interior, so it's sort of taking the best bits of existing vehicles and putting them in one place. So, for folks who need a rugged, reliable, but modern utility 4x4, the Ineos is looking like less of a compromise so far than the others.
That's why I think (though "hope" might be a better word at this point) that the Grenadier will be better than what is currently out there, because I have to compromise less -- I don't need to compromise on my interior to get a good utility 4x4. I don't have to compromise on fixability to get a modern interior. I don't have to compromise on payload to get an off-road capable machine.
Of course, it's not a panacea -- at only 25k units per year, there's a lot of questions about parts and service but I do think the Grenadier is shaping up to be something right up the alley of Overland Tourers. For me, it's either the Ineos or the Defender as my next touring rig, so I watch with bated breath -- the new Defender has so far impressed me, but it's ongoing reliability concerns (no deal breakers so far given it's a year one model but a few cases that make me raise an eyebrow) and the complexity of its design is leaving the door wide open for Ineos to win me over.
(electric cars are rather simple though)
