CREWE, England – The future looks green for Bentley. Well, greenish at least. By end-September, it will launch its first pure-electric production car, a new model entirely distinct from its existing Continental and Bentayga lines, both of which will remain hybrid petrol-powered for the foreseeable future.

Hosting a select group of media in Crewe, Bentley’s long-time base in northern England, in May, its chief executive officer Frank-Steffen Walliser describes the new sport utility vehicle (SUV) as an “urban SUV”. It is shorter and more compact than the imposing Bentayga, but no less roomy, thanks to the better space utilisation that an electric vehicle (EV) layout allows.

The affable, straight-talking Walliser calls the impending launch a “very important moment” and a “brand-defining moment” for the storied British brand, as the car will take Bentley into a new market segment and be “a big step in terms of technology and modernity”.

Explaining Bentley’s decision for its first EV to be a new standalone model, Walliser, a long-time Porsche motorsports chief who took the helm at Bentley in July 2024, reveals that when an internal combustion engine (ICE) model line is replaced by a pure-electric one, the acceptance rate is only about 20 per cent, meaning the brand risks losing 80 per cent of existing customers for that line.

While this can be mitigated by offering the EV as a variant of an ICE model, it is a hugely costly solution investment-wise, as the model would need to be developed from the ground up to accommodate two entirely different powertrains, presumably also being optimised for neither. Also, the ICE and EV variants would essentially be rivals in the same segment, instead of expanding the potential buyer pool for the brand.

Hence, Walliser is confident that the standalone EV model will broaden Bentley’s customer base by offering something new and exciting, to appeal to a different generation and customer group. At the same time, it “will be very Bentley because it will be very powerful” and “will have a sound that fits the Bentley brand”, as aural sensation remains central to the Bentley driving experience.