Bentley EV scheduled for 2025, will be one of the first cars to use a new luxury platform developed by Audi. The first electric vehicle will take the form of a high-driving sedan and will build on the custom VW Group architecture, which is being developed by Project Artemis, an initiative led by Audi to develop an advanced EV platform.
The Volkswagen-owned maker Crewe has committed to introducing battery-only electric vehicles starting in 2030 and plans to meet that deadline with the launch of a family of new electric vehicles in the second half of this decade.
Bentley bosses don't expect a big leap in battery technology anytime soon, so the company's first electric models will be designed to match the accessibility and weight restrictions of current systems with Bentley's luxury location. The result will be models significantly different from the current Bentley line.
The new electric vehicle naming scheme not decided yet
Bentley president Adrian Hallmark told that the company has not yet decided whether future Bentley EV will take the name and proportions of current combustion engine models. But he added, “Our position is to look at customers and sectors. In addition to switching to electricity, we will adapt our product portfolio as the world is changing. "
"The format, size, and name of our product should be modified according to the nature of the product and its strategy based on the customers and where we see these sectors trending. We love our current names. Maybe they will continue. But we will always follow customers, segments, values and find the name that suits them."
Only electric vehicles and PHEVs from 2026
Although Hallmark said Bentley does not anticipate a "marine change" in its BEV technology, she has suggested that continuous improvements will help the company achieve its range goals. Starting in 2026, all-new Bentley models will be fully electric or plug-in hybrids, with existing models allowed to continue.
He said, "By 2025, we expect batteries from 110 kWh to 120 kWh to be available, which begin to put larger cars in a position where they can achieve a range of 400-500 kilometers [250-310 miles> " Hallmark. "It takes more than 150 kWh for a full-size SUV to operate on the equivalent of a combustion engine vehicle, which is why hybrid cars are so important to play a major role in larger vehicles in the next five years."
This indicates that it is unlikely that Bentley will introduce a large conventional Tourer like the Continental or the Flying Spur in its initial lineup of electric vehicles, leaving the electric versions of those models until battery technology is developed.
Instead, the focus will be on crossovers that will complement the current range, with a similar price range but with a different approach to suit the advantages of electric vehicles, in a similar context, for example, the Porsche Panamera and the Taycan.
Hallmark said she expects customer demand for electric cars to change radically rather than gradually grow, with a potential "tipping point" globally by 2030. She also indicated that Bentley's electric prototypes will likely complement the current range of combustion engines. Noting that "for our customers, Bentley EV will not be their only vehicle. They will have the carrying capacity at home, work, and the places they frequent, and as that infrastructure is built, it will be more usable. BEV's characteristics are compatible with Bentley, so why not do that?"
First Bentley EV
As previously mentioned, Bentley EV Crewe will adopt a high-driving sedan body patte
to accommodate the batteries underground. However, it will not go up like a conventional SUV. Its design will be inspired by the EXP 100 GT concept and its chassis will be optimized for efficiency. Aerodynamic strength for improved reach. The work is still in the concept stage, but Bentley chose this development path because it better conceals the mass of the batteries.
That 2025 will be followed by what Matthias Rabe, Bentley's chief engineer, has called a "family of electric cars" based on an "all-new platform". Although Bentley declined to comment, this points to the new architecture developed by the sister company Audi's Artemis project.
Second Bentley will take Artemis architecture and tweak key elements to ensure it meets positioning and branding needs, as is the case with other VW Group platform-based models.
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