Bentley has revealed that it wants to become a fully electric brand by 2035, postponing its original plan to electrify its entire vehicle line-up by 2030. The luxury brand first announced the plan to become an all-electric brand in late 2020 as part of the ‘Beyond100’ strategy but it recently unveiled a revised ‘Beyond100+’ strategy with 2035 as the new target.
When Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser presented the revised strategy, he described Beyond100+ as the luxury automaker’s ‘guiding light’ as it pushes its electrification target from 2030 to 2035, maintains its goal of a carbon-free future, and reinforces its position as one of Britain’s most prolific carmakers for more than a hundred years. According to Walliser, Beyond100+ is an adaptation to current regulatory, market, and economic conditions.
Bentley joins the list of established automakers that have pushed back their ambitious electrification targets after several months of waning market demand. High prices and interest rates coupled with rising costs of living have depressed electric vehicle sales in several major markets, especially now that many countries are winding down their EV subsidy programs.
Former Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark responded to the market conditions by postponing the British carmaker’s electrification target to 2033 and stating that the company would spend hundreds of millions on plug-in hybrid development as it transitioned to being fully electric. With new CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser at the helm, Bentley is expected to launch its first battery electric vehicle (BEV) in 2026.
Bentley says it expects to unveil the first ‘true’ Luxury Urban SUV in the world, essentially launching a completely new segment. The Volkswagen brand will partner with Porsche and Audi to design, develop, and manufacture the new and still-unnamed electric car at its Crewe, United Kingdom headquarters using the Platform Premium Electric (PPE).
The unnamed EV will also herald the start of a multi-year strategy that will see Bentley launch a new battery electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) each year over the next decade. Bentley had previously planned to launch its first electric car in 2025 with a new BEV each year until the end of the decade, but the revised Beyond100+ pushed its electrification target to 2035, with the first BEV coming in 2026.
In the meantime, Bentley will continue selling internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles until it becomes fully electric in 2035. Making its first electric car an SUV could help Bentley appeal to the American market which is especially partial to SUVs and pickup trucks.
As Bentley introduces its EV models, it should prepare to compete with the likes of Lucid Motors (NASDAQ: LCID) that already have electric vehicles on the market.
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