The transition to electric power for the British brand of premium and luxury automobiles will rely primarily on the technology developed by the Volkswagen Group and Audi.
In the late 1990s, Volkswagen Group completed the acquisition of Bentley. PPE is an abbreviation for “premium performance electric platform,” which Audi, which is also a member of the Volkswagen Group, created.
Bentley’s first electric vehicle will be based on the PPE platform. According to statements made by Hallmark to Automotive News Europe, the acquisition “gives us the battery technology itself, the drive units, the autonomous capabilities, the connected car capability, the body systems, and certain improvements in those.”
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Despite these performance specs more typical of a Bugatti than a Bentley, Hallmark added that 0-60 acceleration will not be the main selling point of the EV.
In an interview with Automotive News, the executive stated the brutality of acceleration will not define the car, with the main attribute of the new EV rather being its “effortless overtaking performance from a huge amount of torque on demand.”
He explained that most people enjoy the 30-70 mph acceleration, or in Germany 30-150 mph, so that’s where Bentley’s first electric vehicle will shine.
Back to the 0-60 time of 1.5 seconds, Hallmark said that customers will also have the option of a slower 0-60 acceleration in 2.7 seconds if they find the quickest setting too uncomfortable.
While Hallmark did not reveal what body style the new EV would be, he said its design will be updated from Bentley’s current look without following an EV trend. “What we will not do is try and make them look like electric cars,” he said.
He also revealed that one variant of the new EV will cost more than €250,000 ($262,250), a price point that the brand exited when it discontinued the Mulsanne in 2020; it won’t be a sedan, Hallmark stressed. If the 2019 EXP 100 GT Concept is anything to go by, Bentley’s first electric vehicle may adopt the shape of a luxurious grand tourer.
Bentley’s first EV will be built on the Premium Performance Electric platform developed by Audi. According to Hallmark, Bentley attributes were “baked in at the beginning,” with the platform giving the brand “the battery technology itself, the drive units, the autonomous capability, the connected car capability, the body systems and some innovations in those.”
The first electric Bentley will go into production at the carmaker’s plant in Crewe, England, in 2025.
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