The INEOS Grenadier sits high enough off the ground that most owners — especially passengers and anyone carrying gear — want help getting in. Fixed side steps are the straightforward answer: bolt on, done, $269 for the set. Electric power running boards solve a different problem: they deploy automatically when you open the door and retract flush against the rocker panel when you close it, preserving ground clearance for trail use. DVA makes both for the Grenadier, and owners have split sharply between them based on how they use the vehicle.
Fixed side steps ($269): Bolt-on at the factory hinge points, no drilling, available in black or red anodized aluminum. Permanent mount — stays deployed on trail. Best for daily drivers and owners who don’t run tight rock lines.
Electric power running boards ($1,799): Auto-deploy when any door opens, retract flush when closed. Maintains ground clearance during trail sections. LED lighting standard. Best for owners who mix daily commuting and off-road use and want clearance preserved automatically.
The Ground Clearance Trade-Off
The Grenadier’s approach and departure geometry are one of its core selling points. Fixed steps — whether OEM or aftermarket — permanently reduce effective clearance on the entry side of the vehicle. On most dirt roads and moderate trails this is irrelevant, but owners running technical sections report the step as the first thing they snag on rocks or high-center on.
Electric power boards eliminate this entirely. When the doors are closed and you’re moving, the boards sit retracted flush with the body — effectively invisible from a clearance standpoint. Owners on TheIneosForum discussing electric deployable steps noted this distinction clearly: the electric mechanism is compelling for overlanding and daily use but is explicitly not a rock-crawling solution — the extension brackets aren’t rated for the lateral loads that come with dragging over obstacles.
For overlanding — not Moab rock crawling — and daily driving these look really appealing. I currently have the INEOS side steps in my order; those are not sliders either.
— TheIneosForum member asnes.9046234, thread #12412348
That framing maps almost perfectly onto how owners actually use their Grenadiers. If your trails are forest roads, fire access, and washboard — the electric boards stay out of the way while you’re moving and deploy the moment you open the door at camp. If you’re rock crawling at Moab on weekends, neither steps nor electric boards are the right tool — that’s a rock slider conversation.
DVA Fixed Side Steps — $269 for the Set
DVA’s Grenadier side steps mount to the factory hinge bolt locations on the body — no drilling, no custom brackets. The set comes as a pair in black or red anodized aluminum. Install time is under 30 minutes with basic hand tools using the hinge-bolt mount technique at the existing body attachment points.
At $269 for the pair, these are the pragmatic choice for the majority of owners. They’re lighter than the OEM factory-option steps — a point several forum members made when comparing options from the comprehensive side steps list thread — and the anodized finish holds up to trail debris without rusting, a concern owners flagged about some OEM steel hardware.
DVA Electric Power Running Boards — $1,799
DVA’s electric power running boards add a motorized mechanism that triggers from the door switch: open a door and the board deploys; close the door and it retracts flush against the body. LED lighting is integrated and activates with the board. The system wires to the door circuit — no permanent modification to the Grenadier’s body.
At $1,799, these boards address the fundamental tension in the side step decision: you want easy entry for daily use, but you don’t want a permanent steel rail hanging below the rocker panel on trail days. The auto-retract solves that without requiring you to remove and reinstall anything. For owners who drive the Grenadier as a daily vehicle and take it off-road on weekends, the electric boards shift the calculus compared to fixed steps — the clearance preservation happens automatically, every time.
The one legitimate concern forum members raised about electric power boards as a category: dependence on an electric actuator. If the motor fails in the extended position — a scenario that hasn’t been reported for DVA’s implementation but was raised as a theoretical — you’d have a permanently deployed step. DVA’s implementation uses a direct door-switch trigger rather than a separate relay module, which reduces component count and the failure surface.
How the Forum Split on the Decision
The side steps thread history on TheIneosForum maps the owner debate well. When the Grenadier first arrived in the US, most owners defaulted to either the OEM factory option or fixed aftermarket steps — simply because electric power boards weren’t available yet for the platform. As options expanded through 2024 and into 2025, the question shifted from “which fixed step?” to “do I want fixed or electric at all?”
The majority of owners who report actively overlanding — not just highway commuting with occasional dirt roads — converged on one of two positions: fixed steps for trail-first use (accepting the clearance tradeoff as minor given their actual trail difficulty), or electric boards for owners who wanted the best of both and were willing to spend $1,530 more for the automatic mechanism.
I like my steps not to depend on an electric relay to deploy. Fair point — but I like that the steps can be disabled at a switch for trail use, preserving ground clearance while still making daily driving more friendly.
— TheIneosForum members lemon35 & asnes.9046234, thread #12412348
The “disable for trail” argument points to a real feature of electric running boards: most implementations include a manual override switch that locks them retracted, giving you the equivalent of no steps at all for dedicated trail days. You get full clearance without removing hardware.
Decision Framework
| Use Case | Fixed Steps ($269) | Electric Boards ($1,799) |
|---|---|---|
| Daily driver + light dirt roads | Recommended | Works, more than needed |
| Daily driver + moderate overlanding | Acceptable | Best fit |
| Primarily trail / overlanding use | Fine if trails are moderate | Best fit (auto-retract) |
| Rock crawling / technical obstacles | Rock sliders needed instead | Rock sliders needed instead |
| Passengers who need step access | Recommended | Recommended |
| Budget constraint | Recommended ($269) | — |
The Clearance Math
Fixed side steps typically hang 3–4 inches below the rocker panel depending on mount geometry. On moderate trails with 6–8 inches of clearance to obstacles, that margin disappears. Electric boards in the retracted position add effectively zero to rocker height — they sit flush with the body. For owners who have measured their trail clearance and found it tight, this distinction is what tips the decision to the $1,799 option.
What the Hub Article Links Here
The recently published INEOS Grenadier Accessories Hub covers the full accessory ecosystem by category. Side steps and running boards fall under the entry/exterior category alongside the OEM crossbar kit, DVA DualTrack roof rails, and lighting accessories. The hub links back here for buyers evaluating the step/board decision as part of a broader build.
For full install instructions on the fixed side steps — including the hinge-bolt torque sequence and the screw-jack trick for aligning the mount — see the INEOS Grenadier Side Steps Install Guide. This article focuses on the fixed vs. electric decision; that article covers the install process for all three mounting types.
