Bentley fleshes out the core details of its Bentley 100 plan as the company prepares to continue its push into electrification with new model it calls an “Urban SUV.”
Bentley is making changes to its electrification plans including the confirmation of a new EV SUV.
When Bentley first announced its Beyond100 plan, the British luxury car brand promised that it would serve as the blueprint for electrification with the Beyond 100 plan creating a roadmap for full electrification of the entire Bentley lineup. However, changing market conditions and souring demand for EVs have forced the luxury brand to change multiple aspects of the plan and to include a bigger and more immediate investment into expanding its lineup of hybrid models as it irons out the details for its BEV models.
Despite, that, Bentley is still confident that the plan will be successful and released new details about its newly renamed Beyond100+ plan including confirmation that the first EV model to debut as part of the plan will be a new SUV that will allow Bentley to go for a bigger slice of the luxury EV SUV market while also previewing the future for Betley moving forward.
“Urban SUV” will spearhead Bentley’s EV revolution
Bentley didn’t share too much about the new utility but revealed that it would be smaller than the Bentayga.
Bentley reps chose to not reveal too many details about the new EV but did confirm it will be what the company calls an “Urban SUV.” Bentley says that the urban portion of its moniker will come from the SUV’s size with the model supposedly being smaller than Bentley’s other models. For comparison, a current generation Bentayga is just under 17 feet long so look for this new model to potentially be much smaller than the Bentayga which would allow it to compete against a bigger pool of luxury EV rivals.
“I don’t want to offer more information at the moment,” Bentley CEO Frank Steffen-Wallaser said. However, although the numbers remain confidential, he assured us that the range would be “amazing” and the charging speed would be “extraordinarily good.”
The sound of the EV will also be a key benchmark for Bentley engineers with the company saying the new model will have a distinct sound saying that it will be exhilarating and that it won’t be copied from other EV models. While the sound an EV makes may seem like a minor detail for engineers to consider, Bentley customers are notoriously very picky about what they want on an automobile, and for some of them, the fine details matter the most and as a result, the company leaves no stone unturned to ensure that its buyers are happy with all aspects of one of their products.
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Beyond100+ goes beyond mere models
Bentley says its lineup will be fully electric by 2035 but engines like the Ultra Performance Hybrid V8 will provide customers a bridge to full electrification
While the new “Urban SUV” will be a rolling example of Bentley’s electrification strategy in action, the new plan (now dubbed Beyond100+) has other pieces outside of vehicles that will all need to fall into place to help things move smoothly. In addition to the aforementioned investment in hybrids, the company is also promoting the potential use of e-fuel, a fuel substitute that’s mainly used in the aviation industry but is just now being talked about for the automotive industry though its high cost is a formidable speed bump preventing mass adoption.
In the meantime, the company also built a new factory on the site of its carbon-neutral headquarters which will serve as the figurative hub of its EV operations. Part of the facility will be home to a 134,119-square foot paint shop that’s set to open in 2025. The paint shop will allow EV buyers to choose from over 100 different colors and builds on Bentley’s long-standing practice of offering consumers a near-limitless array of customization options. The new building is part of a bigger $3.2 million investment into future products and other upgrades at the Pyms Lane plant in Crewe England where all Bentley products are hand-built. The upgrades will help simplify the transition process for Bentley and prepare the company for some of the unique challenges that come with building electrified vehicles.
However, the lingering challenge for Bentley is convincing enough of its loyal customers to make the switch to electrified vehicles and move away from the gasoline engines that long defined the company’s history as Beyond100+ moves into its later phases. Some customers might find it hard to make the switch and that could stunt sales for the EV models Bentley is hoping will lead them into a new era of prosperity and efficiency.
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