Bentley’s first EV will be an ‘urban SUV’
British car-maker says first battery-powered model will be the world’s first luxury urban SUVBentley has released a teaser and first concrete details of its inaugural EV, something it described as the “world’s first true luxury urban SUV”.
Posting a silhouette of the unnamed model it will launch in 2026, the new EV is rumoured to measure in at less than five metres long, making it the smallest Bentley SUV to date and one of the most compact models in the brand’s history.
Created to live in the line-up below the Bentayga, the new ‘urban SUV’ rides much lower than a typical SUV and its smaller size and weight will enable Bentley to fit smaller batteries, saving even more weight and improving the drive.
Primed to sit on the Volkswagen Group’s latest PPE architecture underpinning the Porsche Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron, the new Bentley EV will come with an 800-volt electronic architecture that should ensure the batteries can be topped up at beyond 270kW for a 20-80 per cent charge of around 20 minutes.
Announcing the unnamed 2026 EV will be just one of 10 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models to be launched over the next 10 years, Bentley’s first EV was supposed to be on sale in 2025 before its release was pushed back a year due to the global slowdown in EV sales.
Bentley originally said it would transition to a zero-emission EV brand by 2030 but has since revised that cut-off to 2035 and confirmed it will continue investing in plug-in hybrids to ensure combustion engines are relevant beyond 2030.
It’s worth pointing out however, that instead of an outright declaration it will become an EV brand as of 2035, the brand has watered down its commitment to being an ‘ambition’ as part of its latest Beyond100+ strategy.
“Beyond100+ becomes our guiding light as we extend our ambitions beyond 2030, while maintaining our aim of a decarbonised future, including offering only fully electric cars from 2035, and reinforcing our credentials as the British creator of extraordinary cars for over a century and beyond,” newly installed CEO Frank-Steffan Walliser said.
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