AN iconic British car brand has revealed the date it will release its first ever electric vehicle.
The car manufacturer has previously shifted all three of its hybrid electric models back to petrol.
Bentley will unveil a new fully electric car in 2026[/caption]
Bentley will be unveiling its first ever fully electric car in the middle of 2026.
But the customer deliveries will not get underway until the second quarter of 2027.
The unnamed new model will be “the world’s first true luxury urban SUV”, according to the brand.
The motor is expected to be less than five metres long which makes it the shortest Bentley SUV.
New images show the SUV’s production bodywork, showcasing the monolithic surface, bluff proportions, and comparatively low-slung shape that are hallmarks of Bentley’s new brand-shaping EXP 15 concept.
Although Bentley has not yet verified the new concept’s technical characteristics, it is anticipated to be closely connected to the Porsche Cayenne Electric.
The new Bentley electric model will reportedly be built on a variant of the PPE EV platform that was created by Porsche and Audi.
The Cayenne Electric is only available with four-wheel-drive, dual-motor powertrains that produce 400 horsepower in the basic model and 805 horsepower in the top-tier model.
In the most efficient version, a 108kWh battery can be charged at up to 400kW and is predicted to have a range of up to 373 miles.
It’s not confirmed how closely the two vehicles will resemble each other, but the Cayenne Electric is almost identical in size to the unnamed electric Bentley.
The company has also delayed its previous targets of releasing electric vehicles due to low demand.
Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser told Autocar: “There is a dip in demand for luxury electric vehicles, and customer demand is not yet strong enough to support an all-electric strategy.
“The luxury market is a lot different today than when we announced [our] Beyond100 [plan],”
According to Walliser, Bentley still intends to introduce a new plug-in hybrid or completely electric vehicle every year starting with the urban SUV in 2026.
However, in order to meet the slow demand for luxury EVs in the upcoming years, the company will aim for a balanced powertrain mix.
Bentley has already switched its existing PHEV-only Bentayga, Continental GT, and Flying Spur to offer pure-petrol engine options in some regions.
But the new unnamed SUV should remain exclusively electric.
