Volkswagen Group's ultra-luxury brand Bentley seems even cooler on EVs.
As its CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser recently told Car and Driver “what we're seeing in the luxury market right now (is) people reject electric cars.” Affluent buyers “only think of luxury cars with combustion engines,” the official said.
In 2020, Bentley plans to make all of its plug-in hybrids by 2026 and all-electric by 2030. The automaker's first EV would roll off the assembly line in 2025, according to Bentley in 2022.
After the change in plans, Bentley is in the process of changing its lineup and moving to plug-in hybrid V-8s instead of the previous W-12 engine. The W-12 engine is irreversible and dead forever, according to Walliser. The automaker's first EV is now set started in 2026 with market arrival in 2027.
Walliser noted that Bentley is too small of an automaker to buy ICE and EV versions of the same car at the same time as Mercedes and BMW have been doing. Plug-in hybrids make sense and are more of a new bridging technology in the eyes of a manager.
While the executive wouldn't commit to Bentley offering only plug-in hybrids, he is bullish on e-fuels. Walliser was an executive at Bentley's sister company Porsche before being named CEO of the luxury car maker in July.
Bentley may continue to produce non-hybrid gasoline vehicles, although those may be limited models only, according to Walliser.
Bentley's main competition is Rolls-Royce double down on EVs. The luxury rival has already launched its first EV known as the Spectre, while an electric SUV and a sedan are expected to arrive in 2027 and 2028 respectively. Rolls-Royce has committed to going all-electric by 2030 and is sticking to that plan.