Bentley’s journey into the electric vehicle (EV) market has hit a bit of a bump. The launch of their first electric car, known as the Bentley Electric, was originally set for 2025. However, due to some challenges with software development and issues with the vehicle platform, the release has been pushed back. Adrian Hallmark, the CEO of Bentley – the famous British luxury car maker – has announced that the Bentley Electric car will now make its debut towards the end of 2026, and customers can expect to start receiving their cars in 2027, fingers crossed.
This delay means Bentley is also adjusting its bigger plan of moving away from gasoline (petrol) cars. Initially, Bentley wanted to stop making gasoline cars by the end of this decade. Now, they aim to achieve this by 2033, giving themselves three more years. This extension is mainly to focus more on hybrid cars, which are part gasoline and part electric. The idea is to make the switch to fully electric cars smoother for everyone. The very first Bentley Electric vehicle is going to be made right in the UK, and it will use a special technology called the Premium Platform Electric. This technology was created together by Porsche and Audi – two other big names in the car world that, like Bentley, are part of the larger Volkswagen Group family.
The delay in launching the Bentley Electric isn’t too surprising because other electric models from Porsche and Audi faced similar delays. Before we see the Bentley Electric on the roads, Bentley plans to release a very powerful hybrid car that uses a V8 engine. This hybrid is set to be a bridge, combining traditional engine power with electric power, before fully electric models take over.
Bentley is also getting ready to launch more plug-in hybrid cars – cars you can charge like an electric one but also have a gasoline engine. This is because they’ve seen that people are still interested in hybrid cars and they expect more people will want them in the future. The Bentley Electric project is a big part of this plan, showing Bentley’s commitment to making luxury cars that are also kind to the planet.
We’ll start seeing some of these new hybrid Bentleys, like the Bentley GT, GTC, and Flying Spur, in 2024. They’ll have a powerful V8 engine that’s helped by electric power. The current hybrid Bentayga will keep its V6 engine until 2026. After that, it will become a fully electric Bentley Electric model.
So, even though we have to wait a bit longer for the Bentley Electric car, Bentley is working hard on making their cars more environmentally friendly. They’re investing a lot of money into new technologies to make sure their luxury cars meet the needs of the future while still providing the performance and luxury Bentley is known for.
