With the first pure electric car to be on the market in 2025, Bentley wants to become a fully electric car company by 2030.
Bentley's first electric car model closes the launch date - 1
Bentley's first electric car will probably use the Artemis platform of parent group Volkswagen, which is currently being developed by Audi's engineering team (Photo: Bentley).
There have been many rumors about Bentley's first electric car for a long time, but now, the British luxury car company has officially confirmed the specific route.
Accordingly, Bentley will start production of the first electric car in 2025. Currently, the company has not revealed the model and size of the car, but there is a lot of other interesting and important information.
Specifically, Bentley will invest £2.5 billion (nearly $3.4 billion) to upgrade and transform its production line in the UK over the next 10 years to gradually become a pure electric car company. . Bentley's first electric car will be developed and manufactured in the UK, in the same factory as current internal combustion engine models, which employs around 4,400 people. All of these plans are part of the company's Beyond100 strategy.
"Beyond100 is the biggest project in Bentley history and in the luxury segment," said Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark. "It's an ambitious roadmap towards the goal of creating a zero-emissions business, including a transition to fully electric vehicle production in just eight years."
Bentley wants to start producing only electric vehicles from 2030 onwards. Not only that, the company also aims to become a zero-emissions producer by 2040, including from development, production, to operating and trading all of its products.
Last year, the CEO of Bentley once said: "If you don't make SUVs, there's no future". Therefore, it is believed that the company's first electric vehicle will be an SUV.
Bentley had a record 2021, with global sales up 31% to 14,659 vehicles, driven mainly by the Bentayga SUV.
One-fifth of Bentayga sales are plug-in hybrids, helping Bentley to lead rivals like Aston Martin or Lamborghini in sales of electric vehicles. Bentley says that from 2026 it will only sell plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.
Bentley will be behind rival Rolls-Royce, now owned by BMW, in becoming the first ultra-luxury car company to produce only electric vehicles. Rolls-Royce said it will launch its first electric car - the Specter coupe - in 2023, two years earlier than Bentley.
Meanwhile, Ferrari also plans to launch its first electric car in 2025, and Lamborghini in 2030.