Luxury today is still defined by larger displacement engines with an excessive number of cylinders. Bentley and Rolls Royce are two companies that still sell 8 and 12 cylinder vehicles to this day, but for the former, this will change within a decade. The company has pledged in their Beyond100 strategy to sell nothing but fully electric vehicles by the year 2030. It seems some things are inevitable.
We’ve already seen Bentley introduce a hybrid variant of their Bentayga SUV and we have little doubt that more hybrids will be around the corner. In fact, by 2026, the company says every petrol engine they produce will find its way into a PHEVs. That’s right, no more pure petrol powered Bentleys by 2026.
That could very well spell the end of the V8 and W12 engines from Bentley in just 6 years.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
Bentley Motors has outlined plans to become a global leader in sustainable luxury mobility with further details of its Beyond100 strategy revealed today. With the promise to offer truly sustainable luxury, Bentley will reinvent every aspect of its business to become an end-to-end carbon neutral organisation as it embarks on its second century. The target is driven by a transformation programme across Bentley’s entire operations and products. This includes switching its model range to offer exclusively plug-in hybrid or battery electric vehicles by 2026, and full electric vehicles only by 2030.
The announcement highlights Bentley’s plans to provide extraordinary mobility for the next century, evolving from the world’s largest producer of 12-cylinder petrol engines to having no internal combustion engines within a decade, reinventing itself as a leader in sustainable luxury mobility.
The Beyond100 strategic plan is an extension of two decades of forward thinking, innovation and achievement. Acutely aware of the responsibility to consider its environmental, social and economic impact, Bentley has transformed its 80-year-old headquarters into the UK’s single carbon neutral luxury car factory. In parallel, the luxury marque has grown to operate in more markets than ever before, 68, while creating a long-term, consistent, sustainable business model, a truly solid basis to build for a second century.
End-to-End Carbon Neutral
Bentley’s aim to become an end-to-end carbon neutral luxury car brand by 2030 will be underpinned by a structured, business-wide sustainability programme. This includes the development of electrified models throughout the range, and further improvements on its operational environmental impact, that of its tier one supply chain and collaborating with its retailer network.
Bentley’s approach to redefining its business model will be built around its accelerated journey towards electrification. Having already committed that every model line will be offered with the option of a hybrid variant by 2023, with Bentley’s first pure electric model to be launched in 2025, Bentley is today announcing a move towards zero emission mobility.
Following the introduction of the first Bentley fully electric model in 2025 – Bentley’s first cradle to grave fully carbon neutral car – Bentley will exclusively offer plug-in hybrid and electric models only within its range in 2026. By 2030, this will change to battery electric vehicles only.
Bentley’s electrified future was previewed with the reveal of the all-electric EXP 100 GT concept car in its centenary year, which also featured a multitude of sustainable materials. These included 5,000-year-old copper-infused Riverwood, traditionally produced wool carpets and a leather-like textile upholstery made from a bi-product of wine-making. Bentley will continue to use only sustainably sourced materials throughout its current, and next generation of cars.
