Bentley delays all-electric plans and shifts focus to hybrids

The British carmaker’s first electric car will be an all-new model and won’t replace any existing products

Bentley is abandoning its all-electric ambitions, opting for a more gradual transition to electric vehicles. The luxury automaker plans to adopt hybrid technology during this period, as its leadership acknowledges that buyers at the top end of the market remain interested in internal combustion engines. Apparently, the roar of the V8 is still music to the ears of Bentley customers.

Back in January 2020, the British brand announced that it would only sell plug-in hybrids or battery electric vehicles (BEV) by 2026, with plans to fully switch to electric vehicles by 2030. However, under the new leadership of Frank-Steffen Walliser – a 29-year Porsche veteran and the mastermind behind the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar – the brand is recalibrating its strategy.

READ: Bentley’s new CEO is the engineer who signed off on Porsche 918 Spyder

In a recent interview, Walliser acknowledged that adoption of electric vehicle technology has been slower than many in the industry expected. “What we’re seeing now in the luxury market is a rejection of electric cars,” he told Car and Driver. “They only consider luxury cars with internal combustion engines.”

Unlike some other brands, Bentley cannot produce both electric and gasoline-powered versions of the same vehicle competing in the same segment. As a result, the company sees plug-in hybrids as a viable interim solution that could bridge the gap. In addition, Walliser is an advocate for sustainable e-fuels, which Porsche already produces on a large scale at a factory in Chile.

“Hybrid is definitely more than just a novel bridging technology. It’s a very good solution that can serve a lot of customers and meet their needs,” he noted. “Our goal is to reduce our CO2 footprint and I fully believe that using synthetic materials can close that gap because you can reduce the amount of CO2 that goes into the cycle without adding extra CO2 to the environment.”

However, Bentley hasn’t completely given up on its electric dreams. The company plans to launch its first electric car “around 2026,” according to the company’s CEO, and then in 2027. Walliser also has “ambitions” for the brand to be “fully electric by the mid-2030s.”

However, details about Bentley’s first electric car are still limited. Walliser clarified that it will not replace models already in the company’s portfolio but rather serve as a new addition to its range of cars.