B
y the end of this decade, you won’t be able to buy a
new Bentley with an internal combustion engine.
From 2030 on, all new Bentleys—the succes-
sors to the raffish Flying Spur sedan, the sporty
Continental GT coupe and convertible, the brawny
Bentayga SUV—will have battery electric powertrains,
CEO Adrian Hallmark says.
As a result, the automaker’s trademark imperious thrust
will be accompanied by a whispering whirr of a brace of
motors and no longer the murmuring hum of a turbo-
charged W-12 or the muted rumble of a turbocharged V-8.
“We believe electrification isn’t an option,” Hallmark
said. “It’s an obligation, because the technology is there.
We think making everything that we do sustainable is a
major potential advantage for us as a company.”
Even so, it’s a big bet for a storied British marque whose
heritage is steeped in a gasoline-soaked aura of perfor-
mance and luxury. And although 2030 is the best
part of a decade away, in automotive design, engi-
neering, and development terms, it’s just around
the corner. This is not vague greenwashing on
Hallmark’s part; Bentley is committed. Work on
the electric cars is already underway.
Of course, tiny Bentley—sales last year totaled 11,206
vehicles, a Bentley record—isn’t making this profound
pivot all by itself. As part of the Volkswagen Group, it
benefits from access to a massive electric vehicle engi-
neering R&D program.
Volkswagen’s ID3, recently launched in Europe, is the
first vehicle to be built on the company’s new bespoke
electric vehicle architecture, MEB. The ID4 crossover,
which has just gone on sale in the U.S., is the second, and
MEB will ultimately underpin all Volkswagen, Škoda,
and Seat electric vehicles, as well as select small Audis.
The electric Bentleys will be built on an all-new
premium electric vehicle platform being developed
jointly by Audi and Porsche, and although two of Bentley’s
internal combustion engine models—the Flying Spur and
Continental GT—are built on the Porsche-developed MSB
architecture, the electric Bentleys will all be based on the
Audi variant of the platform. “We’re going to have moresynergies in five to 10 years with Audi than we
will with Porsche,” Hallmark said. “They’re
sportier, while we’re definitely on the luxury
performance side.”
Hallmark believes the rapid reductions
in battery cost and weight over the past few
years, along with a greater understanding of
managing battery performance and durability,
mean the time is right for Bentley to start working on an
all-electric lineup. And he believes the characteristics of
electric powertrains sit well with the marque.
“Battery electric vehicles are right for the Bentley
brand, with high torque and effortless, refined
performance,” he said. Will they still sound like
a Bentley? “We won’t put fake noises in. We’ll
have great noises from the electrical systems.”
Bentley might be ready to go all-electric. But are Bentley
customers? “We carefully tested that before we jumped,”
Hallmark said. “This is a bold move, but we’ve seen over
the past 18 months that, when questioned, 39 percent of
Bentley owners say they are considering a battery electric
vehicle as a next car. Not to replace the Bentley they have
now but to add to their fleet of personal cars. And they all
say, ‘We’d love a luxury electric vehicle.’”
Going all-electric is a radical step, but Hallmark says
Bentley has done radical before. “When you
look back now at the first Continental GT, it
may not look radical, but at the time it took
a lot of convincing for Bentley to do a car like
that,” he said. “As we move into electric, we’re
not going to throw away the brand DNA. But
we have to reinterpret it and be a bit more
progressive than we perhaps have been in
the past. And that’s exciting.” QNEWS I OPINION I GOSSIP I STUFFBentley goes all-in on electrification
Angus MacKenzie
The Bentley EXP
100 GT, unveiled
to mark the
brand’s 100th
anniversary in
2019, envisions
the grand tourer
of 2035. By then,
Bentley expects
to have an all-
electric lineup.The Big Picture
82 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2021