Finally, Bentley says it has found the winning formula to giving an all-electric vehicle the Bentley stamp of approval. It’ll scream luxury and likely cost a bloody fortune.
The British ultra-luxury brand, owned by Volkswagen AG, is once again pushing back its target to exclusively offer BEVs by five years to 2035, but says it is launching a “luxury urban SUV” – its first all-electric vehicle – in 2026.
Back in 2018, Bentley started making the transition with its Bentayga Hybrid, and now the brand offers plug-in hybrid versions of the Continental GT and Flying spur.
Bentley, a brand synonymous with lavish and powerful cars with 12- and 8-cylinder engines that can cost in the millions for special editions, also said it plans to offer a new EV or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle each year until 2035 – the company had originally targeted the end of this decade for going all electric, but it has pushed that back by five years.
“To be honest, there is not a lot of demand [for BEVs] from today’s Bentley customers,” CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said during a press conference yesterday, as reported by Reuters.
But he is not ruling out legislative changes and a new generation of consumers who want a sleek, expensive EV.
“But we see there are new customers out that definitely want to have a very modern car.”
“Legislation, for sure, is driving electrification … but also competition,” Walliser said.
He did add the caveat that the 2035 target could shift even more, as some global regions are electrifying more slowly. “Some parts of the world may be even slower than 2035,” he said. “We listen carefully to our customers… and what they want to buy.”
The company ended production of its famed W12 engine this year, and now it focuses on PHEVs with 8- or 6-cylinder engines. And it says it’ll keep making PHEVs “as long as markets and customers demand it,” said Matthias Rabe, head of Bentley’s research and development. He also noted that Bentley may continue to release new ICE vehicles in the years to come as well.
Bentley to launch its first all-electric vehicle in 2026
Bentley’s first BEV was initially expected to be produced starting next year. Former CEO Adrian Hallmark had said prior that the plans to launch a new EV had been delayed due to software issues as well as designing a vehicle to Bentley’s exacting standards, rather than market conditions.
The company only hinted at the shape of the new EV with a sketch, which shows a similar profile to the Bentayga SUV – for reference, the 2025 model of the Bentayga starts at around $208,000. But it’ll be more compact, Walliser noted, at under 5,000 mm (16.4 feet) in length, so similar in size to the Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q7, and it’ll be built on the same platform as the upcoming Porsche Cayenne EV.
While Bentley didn’t share any statistics about the new model, it did note that range and charging speed will be top priorities. And of course, customers can expect the Bentley signature craftsmanship that are essential to the brand: “We don’t want to make just any electric car; we want to make a Bentley,” said Walliser.