Bentley reveals Aussie electrification plan

Australia will take its first small steps along Bentley’s plan to go all-electric by 2030 when first local deliveries of the plug-in Bentley Flying Spur Hybrid sedan begin next month.

Priced from $479,100 (plus on-road costs), the Flying Spur Hybrid will be the first electrified Bentley to arrive in Australia and joins V8 and W12 models in the large luxury saloon range.

The Bentley Bentayga Hybrid will be the second electrified model from the British premium brand, but the big plug-in hybrid SUV will not arrive here until the second quarter of 2023. Its pricing has not been announced, but it will sit close to the Bentayga V8, which is currently priced from $378,600 plus ORCs.

By 2024 the two-door Continental GT coupe and GTC convertible will have joined the Flying Spur and Bentayga in offering hybrid drivetrains.

By 2026 only petrol-electric hybrid drivetrains will be on offer from Bentley, meaning the end of the iconic W12 and V8 engines.

As we’ve reported, Bentley seems likely to celebrate the end of V8 production with one of its multi-million-dollar Mulliner limited editions.

Bentley’s first battery-electric vehicle – tipped to be either an SUV or coupe – will be revealed in 2025 and on sale by 2026.

Internal combustion engines will be dumped from the line-up altogether by 2030, when Bentley should have at least five EV models on sale as part of its five-in-five product plan.

At a media event earlier this week, Bentley APAC marketing chief Calista Tambajong was cautious about the way the hybrids and Bentley’s longer-terms push into electrification would be received by Australian customers.

“As a company we have decided we want to go full-electric by 2030 so this is our first progression,” she said. “So from us we are definitely pushing it.

“But there are outside factors as well. In some countries there are better incentives for people to drive hybrid and electric cars a lot faster [there] than the other [countries].

“Maybe Australia is not the strongest at the moment, but we as a company will definitely come in and try and support it because at some point with our five-in-five plan we will only have hybrids and then going into electric vehicles.

“So we have to do it.”

It seems clear that Bentley’s Australian line-up is likely to retain the W12 and V8 as long as possible and then retain the petrol-electric hybrids until the end of production.

That’s in contrast to some markets that might drop the ICE drivetrains sooner because EVs are being embraced more enthusiastically by buyers and law-makers.

Already, the Bentley Speed W12 cannot be sold in some key markets such as the UK and China because of emissions certification issues.

Both the Flying Spur and Bentayga Hybrids use Volkswagen Group powertrains, although they are different systems.

The Flying Spur Hybrid is powered by a 306kW 2.9-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 and 100kW e-motor that makes a combined 400kW and 750Nm.

An 18.0kWh battery supports an electric-only range beyond 40km, while combined fuel consumption is a very un-Bentley 3.3L/100km.

The Bentayga Hybrid is powered by a 250kW 3.0-litre single-turbo V6 combined with a 100kW e-motor to make 340kW (torque was 700Nm but hasn’t been specified for the MY23 update).

An 18kWh battery pack supports a 43km range and claimed average fuel consumption is 3.4L/100km.

Other market arrivals coming soon for Bentley are the Flying Spur Speed in the first quarter of 2023, the Bentayga EWB Azure in March 2023 and the Flying Spur S in the second quarter of 2023.