New Bentley Torcal revealed: brand's first EV is its most powerful car ever

This is the first electric Bentley, the Torcal, which the British luxury brand claims is as comfortable as a Flying Spur and dynamic as a Continental GT Speed. It’s a remarkable fusion of modernising design, imaginative tech and relentless speed: the S version can demolish the 0-62mph sprint in 2.9 seconds. 

The 5m-long SUV looks intrinsically Bentley in its statuesque proportions, such as the long bonnet, muscular rear haunch that originated with the 1952 R-Type Continental, and monstrous wheels up to 22 inches in diameter. But the cliff-like planes and split-lamp arrangement drive Bentley design forward – along with two illuminated grilles incorporating different patterns of diamond-shaped crystals. 

Design director Robin Page said Bentley started by asking if its EV even needed a grille. “Grilles are to cool the engine down, so we thought ‘Let’s create a piece of art’ and do an illuminated grille which celebrates an iconic element of our heritage.” Ostentatious grilles are now ubiquitous, but Bentley rules them all with these spectacular executions.  

The Crewe firm says the ‘90s Continental T – a brutish chopped limo driven by Elton John and a few hundred others – provided inspiration for the grille’s shape and squared-off lower bumper. The Torcal’s vertical light strakes sit precisely where the centre of the T’s round lamps would have been; their rectangular surround incorporates more crystals and four different lamps to manipulate beams to avoid dazzling oncomers. 

But, as is so often the case with Bentleys, the interior craftsmanship fires the imagination even more. Ambient lighting – inspired by light refracting through crystal – casts coloured light shafts across surfaces; seats are hand-stitched with intricate patterns, and can be optioned with Postural Adjust that eases pressure on long journeys or gives a leg massage. 

22

There are knurled controls for air-con and audio volume, and the touchscreen is curved because it helps users apply more consistent pressure on a swipe down compared with a vertical slab. There’s the world’s first automotive use of 100 per cent Merino wool in the doors, 15 different shades of olive tan leather and six wood veneers including Ombré Walnut, which presses together 1mm-thick sustainable offcuts for a ripple of shades. There’s also a beautiful aluminium fascia: Bentley ruled out a passenger screen because it would cover a prime bit of real estate used to demonstrate its material prowess.   

And there are some lovely convenience features. If grabbing a door handle is too strenuous, powered doors close when occupants click their seat belt or the driver presses the brake (admittedly something piggy-backed from the new Porsche Cayenne Electric which shares the Torcal’s ‘Premium Platform Electric’ underpinnings). Assistance systems monitor the surroundings, enabling the Bentley to autonomously reverse to a safe passing spot on a narrow lane, avoid kerbing the rims in parallel and garage parking, and learn how to replicate a three-point turn on your driveway, for example. And facial recognition helps correctly set the driver’s user preferences. 

The Torcal also tries to trigger the auditory sense, no mean feat for an electric car. The turn indicators make the sound of a Bentley workshop hammer tapping leather, while the touchscreen response is the chime of a crystal glass being rubbed. And like the Range Rover Electric, the Bentley’s engine sound is orchestral. But it trumps its luxury rival’s piano-based sound with a jam of drums, viola and bass guitar, inspired by the rhythm of a Bentley V8. “We could have recorded a V8 but that would have been inauthentic,” says Page, “and we’re getting to a point now where people are enjoying this far more than the [petrol] engine.” The sound is calibrated to vehicle speed, swells in Sport mode – and can be silenced.

The different driver modes are colour co-ordinated, with the digital speedo  needle surrounded by different animations of crystal light. Sport mode is blue – ”the colour that’s scientifically proven to energise you”, reckons Page – comfort is warming orange, refresh is calming green; Bentley mode is ice white. Every couple of weeks an animated hand reaches in and resets a crystal circle in the driver’s display, like the gloved hand of a snooker referee replacing the white ball. That’s just weird, Bentley. 

The EV’s performance is beyond a V8’s. “This is comfortably the most powerful Bentley in our history,” says Torcal product line director Martin Page. The core Torcal (there’s nothing so vulgar as an ‘entry-level’ Bentley) gets twin permanent magnet synchronous motors; the rear one has a locking diff to help maintain momentum on slippery surfaces. Peak power is 810bhp, and a faintly ridiculous-sounding 1,194Nm of torque. This Torcal catapults from standstill to 62mph in a mere 3.4 seconds and travels on to 155mph.

22

The S version – naturally – goes harder. Peak power is bumped to 876bhp, torque climbs to a ludicrous-sounding 1,350Nm, and launch control trims the core SUV’s sprint benchmark by half a second. With tongue firmly in cheek, Bentley says acceleration any faster than this is “uncomfortable”. Quite.

Bentley’s first fully active suspension system, including two-valve reactive dampers, fends off sway without the need for anti-roll bars and delivers that breadth of capability. “It allows us to deliver a ride comfort that’s as comfortable as a Flying Spur in steady-state highway driving, but as dynamic as a GT when you want to push on. We’re able to do that by stiffening the suspension between those states in a super-rapid [way],” explains Page. Standard rear-wheel steering, with up to five degrees of rear assistance, will help pivot the car into corners – and improve manoeuvrability in car parks.  

Between the wheels sits a 113kWh (gross) battery, good for up to 375 miles or 600km of range. “We talked to our customers and they said that was the sweet spot,” Page told us at a  sneak preview of the Torcal in central London. The co-efficient of drag is 0.269 – not bad for a bluff SUV eschewing the optimal teardrop shape. A smooth underbody, air curtains smoothing flow around the wheels and a rear that chops off the air help maximise the miles. 

Critically, the Torcal can be refuelled quickly: 15 minutes on a 400kW DC charger will replenish 249 miles. And Bentley reckons the battery, which is covered by a 10-year warranty, will still be good for 90 per cent of its total energy after 62,000 miles or eight years.   

Overall, the fourth Bentley model is 120mm shorter than its Bentayga big brother, with the roofline 50mm lower over the rear occupants. “But the interior package is comparable,” says Page. The boot capacity is a modest 460 litres, supplemented by another 90 litres in the nose. There’s also a glass sunroof with electrochromic shading at the touch of a button – with a diamond pattern, naturally. 

The Bentley Torcal will cost from £173,330, with full production beginning in Crewe in early 2027. Bentley has invested £350 million to modernise the site, with a new paintshop, woodshop and a separate electric assembly line. “And we invested way more money to develop the car, the tools, the supply chain behind it and the R&D work that has been done,” Bentley CEO Frank Steffen Walliser told us. “The Torcal is one of the most important car launches in our 107-year history. It represents something very new. Yes, it’s electric, but it's a Bentley first – and a blueprint for future cars too.”

Don't miss the best of Auto Express on Google! Make us a preferred source. Click here...