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Bentley’s first-ever Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) will be developed and built in the UK with the company committing to investing £2.5 billion in sustainability over the next ten years. The announcement is a major boost for the UK economy and also helps secure Bentley’s first step into electrification at the production plant, where all Bentley models are built and 4,000 colleagues work.
The first BEV is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2025. It is also a critical step in the company’s Beyond100 strategy – the plan launched in 2020 that will ensure Bentley is exclusively electric and end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030.
The company’s ‘Five-in-Five’ plan commits Bentley to launching a new electric model each year, from 2025 – all designed and developed in Crewe (but not necessarily manufactured?).
The significant investment programme will also result in a complete transformation of Bentley’s entire product portfolio, and the historic Crewe Campus, by embedding an industry-leading greenfield facility into a world-leading, next generation digital, low environmental impact, high-value advanced manufacturing facility.
Among the latest initiatives will be an extension of on-site energy production at Crewe, aiming to increase the number of solar panels from 30,000 to 40,000 in the next two years. Moreover, Bentley is investigating using sustainable biofuel in fleet cars, including Bentley’s iconic Heritage Collection.
Bentley’s partners are also being encouraged to support Bentley’s goal of being end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, with suppliers expected to meet minimum sustainability standards. This will extend to Bentley’s global retailer network, each aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025, possibly even sooner.
The Bentley Flying Spur PHEV will be released in 2022, as well as five additional derivatives added to the current Bentayga PHEV. It is anticipated that more than 20 per cent of sales this year will come from Bentley’s hybrid cars.
