Bentley is laying out a lightly revised series of plans for its Beyond100+ strategy, which was supposed to bring the venerable brand into the electric era.
Is Bentley binning its EV plans?
No, absolutely not, but like a lot of other car brands, it's moderating them a little as it tries to find a new path between regulations on one side, tariffs on another, and customer expectations on a third.
Bentley's boss, Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, says that this is "a revised product cadence plan” which will include longer lives for the firm's plug-in hybrid models and even some non-hybrid, pure combustion cars.
That sounds interesting…
Indeed. One of those pure combustion models will be a new Bentley Supersports, based on the Continental GT Coupe, but with rear-wheel drive and with a turbo V8 engine shorn of its hybrid add-ons. We don't have many more details on the Supersports yet, but it will be shown off in full in New York next week.
From Supersports to spoilsports…
Oh come now, Bentley has to start down the EV road like everyone else, and Walliser has provided us with some more details of what is currently called the Luxury Urban SUV, which he says is 'on track' to be shown off at the end of 2026, with sales starting in 2027.
It will be Bentley's most compact model yet, measuring less than 5.0 metres long, and based on the same PPE platform as the Porsche Macan and Audi A6 e-Tron. That shouldn't concern Bentley purists overmuch - after all, the Conti GT shares with the Porsche Panamera, and the original 2003 Continental GT was based on a VW Phaeton…
The Luxury Urban SUV will be pretty high-tech too, and Bentley is targeting charging speeds that will allow 160km of extra range to be added in less than seven minutes.
What else is happening?
Well, the new Continental GT, Bentayga, and Flying Spur plug-in hybrid models - the top spec versions of which have more than 700hp - will stay on sale for longer than originally planned, to try and keep pace with fickle customer demand. Meanwhile, the pure-combustion models, such as the Supersports and the V8-only Bentayga launched last year, will be added to, and Walliser says that he's planning more limited-edition models such as the Supersports and the Bacalar in the future.
Other than new models, what's happening?
Bentley is investing heavily in its home in Crewe, in the north west of England, where it has been building cars since the 1930s. There's a new state-of-the-art paint shop due to open soon, alongside recent investments such as a new design centre and integrated logistics centre. The oldest building on the 87-year-old site, named A1, is also being refitted both to build the new electric Bentley, as well as aiming for carbon-neutral status.
According to Walliser: "Today's updates to our Beyond100+ strategy reaffirm Bentley's commitment to progress - responsibly and sustainably. We are evolving our product cadence to reflect the realities of a changing world and a dynamic marketplace. By extending introducing new internal combustion engined models, and offering hybrid powertrains until at least 2035, we are ensuring that every Bentley customer can continue to experience the full breadth of our performance and craftsmanship.
"Our first fully electric Bentley, the world's first true Luxury Urban SUV, represents a bold step forward, it embodies our vision for sustainable luxury and technological excellence. With industry-leading charging capability and unmistakable Bentley character and design, it marks the beginning of an exciting new era for our brand - a future defined by innovation, craftsmanship, and sustainability.”