Bentley’s first EV pushed back to 2026

Bentley has reportedly pushed the launch of its inaugural electric model back from 2025 to 2026, but the premium marque hasn’t given an official reason as to why.

Automotive News Europe quoted Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark this week as saying the delay was a “matter of months” and that the car would still make its global debut in 2025 as planned.

Featuring as part of the wider Audi Artemis project, the first Bentley EV is anticipated to be a flagship coupe and will be underpinned by the Volkswagen Group’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), from which Audi and Porsche are also developing all-electric flagships.

Automotive News Europe reports, however, that the Audi product has also been pushed back, again with no real explanation.

Even so, an all-electric flagship coupe will provide Bentley with a direct rival for the looming Rolls-Royce Spectre, which has just finished the second major element of its development in the south of France.

Expected to cost more than €250,000 ($A364,282) in its most lavish form, Hallmark told Automotive News the first electric Bentley will offer “effortless overtaking performance from a huge amount of torque on demand”… something you’d expect from any luxury grand tourer or high-end electric vehicle.

On top of delivering even more effortless performance, Hallmark added the electric powertrains will also be cheaper to produce than the existing 12-cylinder powertrains seen in the Continual, Bentayga and Flying Spur.

“The 12-cylinder engine is about 10 times the price of the average premium car engine, and the average battery is less than our 12-cylinder engine,” he said.

“I can't wait for batteries, they’re cheap in relative terms,” he said.

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