Bentley makes big EV investment, five planned by 2030

Luxury car icons Bentley are set to revamp their line-up between 2025 and 2030, having confirmed overnight that it will release five electric vehicles over the period. 

The announcement comes under what the brand calls its Five-in-Five scheme. It says that the first of the EV projects will be developed and built in the UK — curiously leaving the door open for the other four models to be produced elsewhere. 

“Securing production of our first BEV in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley, and the UK, as we plan for a long-term sustainable future in Crewe,” Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark said in the brand’s statement.

Along with announcing the five mystery cars, Bentley also confirmed in the announcement that it plans to invest €3.0billion into sustainability over the next 10 years — a move it says will result in the “complete transformation of Bentley’s entire product portfolio”.

This investment will include significant spend on facilities, including a new assembly plant at Bentley’s Crewe premises, called the Bentley Dream Factory. 

Bentley hasn’t detailed which models are likely to get the EV treatment, but it’s suspected that the Continental GT and Flying Spur are likely. The Mulsanne has also been rumoured to be going electric for several years. 

The first cab off the rank is rumoured to be an SUV based on Audi’s Artemis Project electric vehicle platform, making use of Audi semi-autonomous driving software and other shared elements. 

The 2025 EV won’t be the brand’s first plug-in. It already offers the Bentayga plug-in hybrid, and it’s set to add a Flying Spur plug-in hybrid later this year. 

The brand has already previously announced that it plans to phase out pure internal combustion engine vehicles from its line-up by 2026, only selling PHEVs and BEVs. 

Indeed, Bentley’s announcement didn’t address the elephant in the room that its home market is set to phase out the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030. 

This effectively gives them no choice but to make the switch, although it’s likely that they will continue to produce some ICE models for overseas markets.