Bentley Puts High-End Electric Rivals On Notice With New Luxury Urban SUV Reveal
Bentley is feeling the slowdown in the global EV hype and has accordingly adjusted its plans of going fully electric by five years, shifting the goalpost from 2030 to 2035. But the transition phase isn't going to be a boring one. On the contrary, the British luxury carmaker will be taking on rival luxury EV adopters as early as next year.
Earlier today, the company announced its first fully electric car, the Luxury Urban SUV. Notably, it's just going to be a start, as the company plans to launch a new PHEV or BEV on a yearly basis moving ahead. Bentley's electric SUV will be assembled at its Crewe plant, which is also getting an infrastructure overhaul as the company shifts gears into the updated Beyond100+ electrification commitment.
The company's press statement didn't reveal any juicy details about what to expect from the upcoming electric car, but it seems the SUV could share some DNA with the likes of the Bentayga. According to Bloomberg, it will be a "compact SUV that is smaller than the existing Bentayga."
In a series of interactions with the press, the company's CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser further revealed the target audience for its all-electric debutant. It seems, according to Reuters, that the brand's focus is on creating a car that is "suitable for city" driving rather than just flexing luxury or innovation muscles.
It will be a Bentley. Period.
Going compact with an electric SUV, in a period when going bigger seems to be the ongoing market trend, is quite a radical move. The likes of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class EV, BMW iX, Audi Q8 e-tron, and the Cadillac Lyriq are all trying to offer a familiar formula, but that's a strategy that comes at the cost of bold experiments. Bentley is taking a different route and with quite some conviction.
"We want to attract new customers. It's not a replacement, it's an additional car," Walliser was quoted as saying. The carmaker is acutely aware of the current market realities, and that is also reflected in the extended commitment to hybrids, but the electrification goals are not merely a result of hopping on a hot trend.
The Bentley chief claims the electrification bid to be the biggest investment in the brand's history. So, what can one expect from the Bentley Luxury Urban SUV? Well, for starters, it will carry the brand's signature elements. "We want the electric Bentley to truly feel like a Bentley. I can only tell you, it will be a true Bentley," the Bentley chief told Insider.
The company certainly has the mojo to pull that off. Take for example the new Flying Spur, which marries a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, producing a combined 771 horsepower and accelerating from still to 60 mph in just 3.3 seconds. We won't have to wait longer to see what an all-electric Bentley SUV brings to the table.