Bentley’s electrification plans have been known for a while, but now Crewe is actually turning on the money tap to initiate the switch to electric powertrains. There are quite a few euros involved.
Bentley is investing a total of €3 billion to make the switch to electric powertrains. That investment is needed to modernize the Bentley factory in Crewe, where the electric Bentley will eventually be built. For a while, the survival of the Crewe factory was uncertain, especially due to Brexit and the accelerating shift from combustion engines to EVs. Bentley’s investment has brought relief to the British government, which has been committed to keeping the 4,000-worker factory.
For its new EV, Bentley is working with Audi on the Project Artemis. That will be an EV with a completely new architecture, which, according to Audi, will be ‘the cream of the crop’ when it comes to electric and autonomous driving. However, Artemis is still shrouded in mystery, so we’ll have to wait and see what they eventually come up with. Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark also did not yet reveal what the Bentley EV will eventually look like. There’s a good chance it will be an SUV, but the featured EXP 100 GT from 2019 may well get a production sequel.
Competitor Rolls-Royce is in any case already earlier with an EV on the market: in 2023 the Specter will appear on the scene. In the long term, the course looks the same for both brands: from 2030, combustion engine cars will no longer roll out of Crewe and Goodwood.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl