Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark believes that switching to electric power will be essential for the brand’s survival. However, that doesn’t mean that thing will get worse. Instead, it will give the luxury automaker the freedom to provide its customers with the power they desire.
Hallmark said that he sees it the company’s role as building Bentleys, “not BEVs [battery electric vehicles] with Bentley badges attached.” As a result, its offerings will come with a significant power boost over its internal combustion vehicles, he recently told Autocar.
Future Bentleys “will happen to be electric, but all the traditional qualities will go up another notch,” said Hallmark. “What’s more, our new powertrains will have between 50% and 100% more power than we currently offer, so the performance will be there.”
Read: Bentley To Become An EV-Only Brand, Petrol Engines To Be Phased Out By 2030
The automaker’s most powerful engine is currently the 6.0-liter W12, which makes 730 hp (544 kW / 740 PS) and 737 lb-ft (1,000 Nm) of torque in the Bentley Mulliner Batur. If that 100% power increase applies to that engine, that means that the brand’s future vehicles could conceivably make as much as 1,460 hp (1,088 kW/1,480 PS).
This kind of performance won’t come at the expense of range. Hallmark estimated that the range of future Bentleys will vary from 350 to 450 miles (563-724 km) per charge. Despite that, he promised that they will also be able to go from 10-80 percent charge in less than 20 minutes.
The CEO explained that the transition is important for his brand because 70 percent of its customers expect an EV in the next five years. Although he said that Bentley still has around 55,000 more ICE vehicles to build (around three years worth of production at current rates), and that it embraces e-fuels, the risks associated with dragging its heels on an electric transition are greater than simply falling behind the competition.
Hallmark said he believes that luxury automaker that do not adopt electrification could fall victim to the “fur coat effect.” That’s his term for luxury goods that become the target of anti-elitist sentiment. By making its vehicles all-electric, Hallmark believes he can protect his brand from becoming too closely associated with consumption and excess. Beyond that, he sees the electric revolution as an opportunity to improve Bentley’s position in the industry.
“I’ve always seen our mission as being to create the world’s most successful luxury car company, here in Cheshire,” said Hallmark. “We need to stop looking at Ferrari – who remain everyone’s role model in our kind of business – and wondering how they do what they do. We want them looking at us, and I’d say we’re getting closer to that. It’s our mission over the next few years.”
