Five new electric Bentley models from 2025

Bentley has accelerated the Beyond100 sustainability strategy in which it promised to become an all-electric car-maker by 2030 and announced a subsequent plan to launch one new EV each year for five years from 2025.

The ‘Five-in-Five’ plan will be backed by a fresh £2.5 billion ($A4.7b) investment and the first Bentley EV – a state-of-the art jacked-up limousine – is set to be designed, developed and produced at the brand’s Crewe headquarters in the UK.

The new injection of cash will be used reinvent the Volkswagen Group-owned British brand’s headquarters and its relevant production facilities into a new-age ‘dream factory’ that Bentley describes as “a digital, zero environmental impact, flexible and high-value manufacturing facility”.

Part of this transformation will include the installation of another 10,000 solar panels over the next two years, an investigation into using biofuels in fleet cars and the implementation of sustainability standards for suppliers as well as the wider retail network.

According to Bentley Motors CEO Adrian Hallmark, the Five-in-Five plan and adjoining investment is “a major landmark in Bentley’s 102-year history” and “a shining light for the Bentley family” as well as “the automotive industry and UK manufacturing as a whole”.

“This latest announcement regarding Bentley’s Beyond100 plan confirms the initiation of a major transformative phase in the company’s long and illustrious history,” he said.

“The world is changing and we need to play our part in neutralising our environmental impact.”

With the Crewe facility already being carbon-neutral (since 2019), Bentley’s environment impact focus will now shift to reducing water consumption and waste to landfill volumes as it cranks up production of its expanding plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model range with the arrival of the Flying Spur PHEV sedan.

Along with the Bentayga PHEV SUV, the two electrified model are forecast by Bentley to account for 20 per cent of all the brand’s sales in 2022, after which

Bentley has also promised more combustion-powered model ‘fireworks’ before it dumps diesel and petrol engines to become an all-EV brand by the end of this decade.