With its first all-electric model set to debut next year, Bentley offers a glimpse at what’s to come with the new EXP 15 concept – while also hinting at other future EVs to follow. Headlight.News has more.
The Bentley EXP 15 design was influenced by the legendary Blue Train Bentley of the 1930s.
Bentley is finally getting ready to get into the battery-electric market with an ultra-luxury SUV set to debut next year. And, with the new EXP 15 concept, the British brand is offering a hint of what might follow.
The four-door prototype doesn’t readily fit into any familiar category, though Bentley’s design chief, Robin Page, suggests it is meant to test the waters for an all-electric sedan, which he calls “the trickiest segment” to compete in these days, considering modern buyers’ focus on SUVs.
“The beauty of a concept car,” he explained, “is not just to position our new design language, but to test where the market’s going. It’s clear that SUVs are a growing segment…but the trickiest segment is the sedan because it’s changing. Some customers want a classic ‘three-box’ sedan shape, others a ‘one-box’ design, and others again something more elevated. So this was a chance for us to talk to people and get a feeling.”
A sedan for a new generation
A sealed, back-lit grille.
While it was once a controversial design, Bentley’s Benayga SUV is now the brand’s best-selling product. There’s only one sedan left in the line-up, the Flying Spur. At 212 inches in length, the EXP 15 really isn’t designed to replace that model. It’s more like what would happen if the automaker were to bring back the old Mulsanne which served as its flagship until being axed from the line-up in 2020.
It also is meant to pick up some of the “elevated sporting sedan” cues inspired by the legendary “Blue Train” Bentley, a version of the 1930s-era Bentley Speed Six made famous by a race with Europe’s fastest railroad train of that era.
Like the Blue Train model, the EXP 15 adopts an unusual 3-seat layout, sans front passenger seat. The rear seats can swivel to make it especially easy to enter or exit the concept vehicle.
Exterior design
Along with a huge frunk, the EXP 15 features a pull-out rear cargo bay.
The EXP 15 features a bold and imposing front end. Its upright face features a sealed grille – since there’s no engine needing a flow of cooling air. The grille is backlit at night, giving the prototype an even more exotic appearance.
As with virtually all modern EVs, EXP 15’s battery pack and motors are moved below the load floor, freeing up space beneath what Bentley calls an “endless bonnet” for a massive frunk where the engine compartment otherwise would have gone.
The roofline, however, gently rakes into a GT-style back end which is more in line with what would be the show car’s primary competitor, the Rolls-Royce Spectre, Oversized fenders flare out to enhance the muscularity of the prototype – and to provide enough room for the massive tires that would be needed to put all its power to the pavement.
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Magical fusion
The cabin of the EXP 15 blends modern and classic design details.
As for the cabin, Bentley said it’s adoptd a new design theme, “dubbed ‘Magical Fusion’ – (it) is about Bentley’s intent to offer a mix of physical and digital features and in some instances merge the two.” That includes a dashboard where digital displays can rotate out of sight, when not needed, to create a seemingly solid dashboard surface.
One of the more notable features is the “Mechanical Marvel,” a clock-like device that can display the car’s direction of travel, its battery charge and more.
“We think people are going to get fed up with a fully digital experience and are pining for physical mechanical elements too,” explained Page. “By combining the two, you can get the best of both worlds. It’s almost like wearing a beautiful mechanical watch on one wrist and a digital watch on the other. Imagine the magical experience you would get if mechanical and digital are overlayed together.”
Powertrain details to follow
Going forward, the EXP 15 hints at future all-electric and plug-in hybrid models to come from Bentley.
For the moment, Bentley is focusing on EXP 15’s design, holding back on the powertrain details. In a statement, the automaker stressed that it is looking to adapt to changing market demands with a mix of all-electric and plug-in hybrids to follow. And it’s possible it could translate some of the design elements of the show car – sans frunk – into a PHEV.
But it seems more likely to highlight where a future all-electric flagship could go. In that case, one could assume it would feature a drivetrain in line with what’s offered in the Rolls-Royce Spectre. That’s a twin-motor all-wheel-drive system drawing power from a 102-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. The base Spectre musters 577 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque, though the Black Badge package bumps that to 650 hp and 793 lb-ft, enough to hit 60 in less than 3 seconds.
We hope to find out more when Bentley formally unveils the EXP 15 concept at the annual Monterey Car Week in California on August 8.
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