Bentley Motors plans to offer a completely and exclusively electric-powered vehicle fleet by 2030, the British luxury car producer has announced. To get there, it plans to offer only plug-in hybrid or battery-electric vehicles as soon as 2026.
To start what Bentley calls its Beyond100 strategy, it plans two plug-in hybrid vehicles to be launched in 2021. It also plans to reduce the environmental impact of its assembly plant in Crewe, England, by 75 percent within 5 years, and adds that the plan has the full support of the Volkswagen Group. It also plans to increase the diversity of its management team.
“With the promise to offer truly sustainable luxury, Bentley will reinvent every aspect of its business to become an end-to-end carbon neutral organization as it embarks on its second century,” the company said. “The target is driven by a transformation program across Bentley’s entire operations and products.”
Bentley notes that it will evolve from “the world’s largest producer of 12-cylinder petrol engines to having no internal-combustion engines within a decade, reinventing itself as a leader in sustainable luxury mobility.”
“Since 1919, Bentley has defined luxury grand touring,” said Bentley chairman and chief executive Adrian Hallmark. “Being at the forefront of progress is part of our DNA — the original Bentley boys were pioneers and leaders. Now, as we look Beyond100, we will continue to lead by reinventing the company and becoming the world’s benchmark luxury car business.
“Driving this change includes, and also goes beyond our products, delivering a paradigm shift throughout our business, with credibility, authenticity, and integrity. Within a decade, Bentley will transform from a 100-year-old luxury car company to a new, sustainable, wholly ethical role model for luxury.”
Bentley previously announced plans to offer a hybrid version of each of its vehicles by 2023 with its first all-electric vehicle to be available in 2025.
“Bentley’s electrified future was previewed with the reveal of the all-electric EXP 100 GT concept car in its centenary year, which also featured a multitude of sustainable materials,” the company said. “These included 5,000-year-old copper-infused Riverwood, traditionally produced wool carpets and a leather-like textile upholstery made from a bi-product of wine-making. Bentley will continue to use only sustainably sourced materials throughout its current, and next generation of cars.”
The company’s Crewe facilities already are the first “luxury automotive factory in the UK” to be certified carbon neutral. The facility has 30,000 solar panels. Bentley said it also is working with its top-tier suppliers to become more sustainable in their operations.
“For 100 years, Bentley has defined grand touring,” the company said. “To maintain the brand’s reputation for delivering extraordinary customer journeys, means appealing to existing and new luxury customers who seek socially acceptable brands, driven to be pioneers and role models of sustainability, with Beyond100 placing Bentley Motors firmly at the vanguard.”
Bentley. Electric. Count me out.
Will they convert to fuel cells??
As long as the electrics are not produced by Lucas… the reason the British drink warm beer.