Electrified Bentley Continental GT To Join Bentayga PHEV In Offering Best Of Both Worlds

Bentley is hard at work expanding their all-new Continental GT lineup, looking to add a convertible, a high-powered Speed version and this, an electrified plug-in hybrid model.

Aesthetically, the Conti GT PHEV looks pretty much just like the regular model, except for a few minor tweaks and the presence of a secondary fuel cap/charge port, positioned on the opposite rear fender, as seen on this prototype.

Performance won’t be an issue

Most signs point to Bentley utilizing the same plug-in hybrid power unit that’s currently in the Bentayga PHEV, for the electrified Continental GT. It’s a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 petrol, working alongside an electric motor and a still undisclosed battery pack. If the specs are anything like in the Bentayga, then the Conti should also be able to offer an all-electric range in excess of 31 miles (50 km) and CO2 emissions as low as 75g/km.

What’s interesting is that this is actually a reworked version of the Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid’s power unit, which means that we can actually fall back on some numbers here. The Porsche puts down a total of 462 PS (456 HP), can hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.6 seconds, can hit 87 mph (140 km/h) in pure electric mode, and will top out at 170 mph (278 km/h).

Now, it’s worth mentioning that Bentley could give their Continental GT PHEV a bigger power train, specifically the 680 PS (670 HP) one in the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, but at this point it’s pure speculation. Still, it would definitely result in improved straight line performance, worthy of a large luxury performance coupe.

As for what you might expect once onboard, the Continental GT PHEV should feature the same interior goodies as its ICE-powered siblings, meaning natural leather surfaces, hand-polished chrome inserts, hand-fitted wooden inlays, plus that gorgeous 12.3-inch “retina-quality” infotainment display.

Bentley isn’t likely to begin customer deliveries for the Continental GT PHEV until 2020, meaning that the unveiling should take place next year.