Bentley on Wednesday confirmed that its first electric car will roll off an assembly line at the automaker\’s existing factory site in 2025.
The automaker previously said it would unveil an all-electric model by that year, but now says it will actually start building the car in 2025 and is making investments to upgrade its Crewe, England, factory to make that happen. Upgrades will also lower the overall environmental impact of all vehicle production at Crewe, Bentley said.
The EV is part of Bentley\’s \”Beyond100\” sustainability strategy. Announced in 2020, it calls for Bentley to make its entire lineup up plug-in hybrid or all-electric by 2026, with a switch entirely to all-electric vehicles by 2030.
2021 Bentley Bentayga Hybrid
Bentley also aims to make its operations carbon-neutral by 2030. That builds on a previously discussed goal of lowering emissions 75% from 2010 levels by 2025.
Bentley has been wildly inconsistent in its electrification plans, initially favoring all-electric vehicles before shifting focus to plug-in hybrids. Its first plug-in model was the Bentayga Hybrid SUV, which launched as a 2020 model. It\’s since been joined by a plug-in hybrid version of the Flying Spur sedan. That just leaves the related Continental GT coupe and convertible as the only models in the current Bentley lineup lacking plugs.
We found the Bentayga Hybrid to be pleasant to drive, as one would expect of a Bentley. But when we drove it, the Bentayga Hybrid\’s EPA highway fuel economy rating was actually lower than the non-hybrid Bentayga V8 model. Its EPA-rated 18 miles of electric range, with an efficiency rating of 45 MPGe, also didn\’t exactly reset the bar for plug-in hybrids.
