Having already sensibly applied the brakes to its electrification strategy (back in 2020, it confidently foresaw its first battery-powered model going on sale in 2025 - that clearly ain’t happening), Bentley has this week treated us to a newer, shinier short-term prediction: it will reveal its all-new BEV in 2026 ahead of sales in 2027. And, in light of ‘today’s economic, market and legislative environment’ (i.e. to better reflect actual customer demand) it will continue building PHEVs until 2035 at least - fully five years after it originally said it would go EV only. How d'ya like them apples?
On the basis that this means a lengthy stay of execution for its newly adopted V8, we like ‘em just fine. As you might expect, Bentley was equally keen to stress that it now ‘predicts’ a new PHEV or BEV model launching every year until 2035 - but on the basis that its wholesale electrification in that timescale has now slipped to an ‘ambition’ rather than a cast-iron guarantee just goes to show how tricky such predictions have become.
Bentley is on more solid ground with confirmation that its newcomer will be a ‘Luxury Urban SUV’. To many if not most reading this, that might sound about as welcome as finding out you’re spending your honeymoon in an ice hotel, but clearly (and not unreasonably) Bentley wants its first-ever EV to be a surefire hit - and whisking exceptionally wealthy people around environmentally-conscious global cities (and China) in a high-riding and very opulent car is probably as close as it can conceivably get to guaranteeing an immediate and healthy return on its initial investment. The reported level of customer interest in the new Range Rover Electric will certainly have been absorbed in Crewe.
The idea that the new model will simultaneously ‘create an entirely new segment’ can obviously be taken with a lorry load of salt. No one appreciates a hand-stitched Bentley cabin more than the grubby ingrates at PH, but for all its talent in making luxury seem tangible, an expensive electric SUV is just an expensive electric SUV - especially one lined up to share the VW Group’s PPE platform, currently to be found underpinning the new Porsche Macan. We have no doubt that the manufacturer will make good on its promise to make the result seem like a ‘true Bentley’ - and one with a range that befits its intended use case - but its claim to the title of ‘world’s first true luxury urban SUV’ is wildly tenuous at best.
Much less tenuous is Bentley’s commitment to continue ‘the largest self-funded site investment programme in Bentley’s illustrious 105-year history’. This is already a work in progress, of course, but it remains a cornerstone of the new Beyond100+ strategy, and the firm calls out the creation of the new Design Centre, Paint Shop and BEV assembly as crucial to ‘securing the future’ of its highly-respected factory. Its first EV will be designed, developed and built at Crewe, alongside a refreshed lineup of Continental GT, Flying Spur and Bentayga.
“Beyond100+ becomes our guiding light as we extend our ambitions beyond 2030, while maintaining our aim of a decarbonised future, including offering only fully electric cars from 2035, and reinforcing our credentials as the British creator of extraordinary cars for over a century and beyond,” reported Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, Bentley’s new Chairman and CEO.
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