It is no secret that Bentley is working on an electric vehicle. What has been unclear is when said vehicle is expected to launch. Recently, Automotive News Europe had a sit-down with Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark where he revealed that electric cars are seen "as another growth opportunity in a five- to 10-year period." Why the long period?
"The problem is, with the size of our vehicles and the frontal area we push through, current battery-power density limits the size of the car with a credible driving range. The Jaguar I-Pace is the perfect-size car for the battery technology, but it’s too small for us. It’s all driven by power density of the battery, but there’s nothing industrialized in the supply chain before 2023-2024-2025. Only then does it open up the size of the vehicle and the category you can make a credible battery-powered car," said Hallmark.
Hallmark wouldn't say what Bentley's full-electric vehicle would look like, but past rumors point to the possibility of the Mulsanne replacement of going full EV.
Bentley knows that it needs an EV sooner or later. Hallmark said 40 percent of Bentley customers would consider buying an electric vehicle. Also, a set of possible Bentley customers, "the upper liberals and the post-moderns" are trending towards Porsche and Tesla models.
Source: Automotive News Europe (Subscription Required)
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