Bentley is Considering an All-Electric Baby Bentayga

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky
bentley is considering an all electric baby bentayga

If you were wondering if the Volkswagen-owned Bentley Motors Limited would be omitted from its parent company’s promise of rampant electrification, it won’t.

Bentley also isn’t too high and mighty to hop onto the compact crossover bandwagon. Executives are saying that the luxury motorcar manufacturer is toying with the notion of producing a small all-electric SUV positioned beneath the $229,100 Bentayga, in stature anyway.

“I can assure you that Bentley — on the long term view — will not stay with one model only in the SUV lineup,” Bentley CEO Wolfgang Duerheimer said during the press launch of the Continental Supersports. “We have clear indications that a smaller Bentayga as a Bentley SUV would find great acceptance.”

A utomotive News quoted Rolf Frech, Bentley’s board member on engineering, as stating “If you are looking for such a car then we are looking at the combination with the possibilities to go full electric. It only makes sense if you get really new customers into the brand.”

Bentley already promised an eventual plug-in hybrid option for each of its models, starting with the Bentayga SUV and ending with the Flying Spur. The early models will use a V6 PHEV powertrain borrowed from VW capable of at least 500 hp, but the company has said it also wants to use a hybridized V8 — particularly for the North American market.

Considering Volkswagen has promised to launch over two-dozen electric cars by 2025, Bentley’s move toward additional electrification isn’t completely out of left field. Other VW sub-brands are working on all-electric vehicles as well. Lamborghini has plans to build a plug-in model of the upcoming Urus crossover, Audi is working on an e-tron SUV line, Porsche has said it would build the E Mission, and there have been sightings of an all-electric Cayenne prototype.

Frech said the Bentley EV wouldn’t show up until 2020, just after those vehicles are scheduled to arrive.

[Image: Bentley Motors Limited]

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  • Sector 5 Sector 5 on Feb 26, 2017

    Is Bentayga a type 4 redux from VW with a fatter margin?

    • RobertRyan RobertRyan on Feb 27, 2017

      @Joss, No but their first attempt at a Luxury SUV. Reaction has been good

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Feb 27, 2017

    You know, we shiftless people who drive low cost appliances will have to pay more to make up for all the money being wasted on electric vehicles. We're awash in oil. Knock off this foolishness and put the money into new V-8 engineering. Even the Dart had a 318 and Torqueflite!

    • See 2 previous
    • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Feb 27, 2017

      @Lorenzo I think between the number produced, the aesthetics, and the fact it has cred as being the first serious EV, they would remain around in the hands of owners for some time even if the parent company failed tomorrow. "The fact remains that Tesla’s business plan relies on government subsidies in the form of carbon credit sales, and Tesla still doesn’t have the manufacturing chops to scale up production to break even without the carbon credit sales income." I agree but for whatever reason (rigged financial system, juiced-in insiders, obsession over Manbearpig etc), I don't see Musk's creation failing despite it's nonsensical business model.

  • Zerofoo The UAW understands that this is their last stand. Their future consists of largely robot assembled EVs that contain far fewer parts. Factories moving to southern "right to work" states and factories moving to the southern-most state of Mexico.I don't think lights-out auto factories are on the horizon, but UAW demands might move those automated manufacturing process timelines up.McDonalds opened a fully automated restaurant in Texas in 2022 in response to a $15/hour minimum wage demand. I'm fairly certain that at $130/hr - fully robotic car factories start to make sense.
  • Redapple2 Cherry 20 yr old Defenders are $100,000 +. Til now.
  • Analoggrotto So UAW is singling out Ford, treating them slightly better in order to motivate the entire effort. Mildly Machiavellian but this will cost them dearly in the future. The type of ill will and betrayal the Detroit-3 must be feeling right now will be the utter demise of UAW. I just hope that this tribulation is not affecting Mary Barra's total hotness.
  • Redapple2 I guessed they were ~$150,000. Maybe attainable.
  • Redapple2 want one.
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