Bentley will offer a hybrid powertrain on every model by 2023

By Stephen Edelstein June 20, 2019

Even a 100-year-old automaker like Bentley needs to get with the times. The British luxury brand is known for its adherence to tradition — it still uses an engine based on a 1950s design — but it will soon take a big step toward the future.

“We will bring out hybrid versions of all of our models by 2023,” Chris Craft, Bentley board member for sales and marketing, confirmed to Digital Trends and other assembled media at a Bentley test-drive event. Craft also said that Bentley will launch its first all-electric production model in 2025.

The move is partly a response to customer demand, Craft said. He said 30% of luxury buyers are interested in electric cars. But stricter global emissions standards likely played a part in the decision as well. The United Kingdom discussed ending sales of new internal-combustion cars by 2040, meaning Bentley may need to go electric just to keep selling cars in its home country.

The first electrified Bentley will be the Bentayga Hybrid, which launches in the United States later this year. This greener version of Bentley’s SUV is actually a plug-in hybrid, although Bentley chose to omit “plug-in” from the name. The powertrain consists of a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 and an electric motor, which is wedged between the gasoline engine and the transmission. Craft did not say whether this powertrain would be used in other Bentley hybrid models. He also didn’t offer any details on Bentley’s first electric car, due two years after the rest of the lineup goes hybrid.

Bentley’s electrification plans keep it in step with the rest of the Volkswagen Group. By 2028, VW plans to launch 70 electric cars from multiple brands globally, although not all of them will be sold in the U.S. By 2040, the German automotive behemoth expects electric cars to make up 60% of its U.S. sales, with hybrids accounting for an additional 10% to 25% of sales. Among other high-end VW Group brands, Porsche has plenty of experience with plug-in hybrids, will soon launch its all-electric Taycan. Audi recently launched its E-Tron electric SUV, and plans to follow that up with additional all-electric models.

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Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

No mere EV, the sensor-stuffed EX90 is Volvo’s towering tech flagship

Front three quarter view of the 2024 Volvo EX90.

Volvo has reinvented its image over the past decade, taking its cars from stodgy to stylish, and keeping pace with tech developments. Now, it’s trying to do that once again.
The 2024 Volvo EX90 is the Swedish automaker’s new flagship — and it’s electric. This three-row, seven-seat SUV packs all of Volvo’s latest infotainment and safety tech, so its electric powertrain is an important statement of Volvo’s commitment to going all-electric in the future.
The EX90 isn’t a standalone EV. Its styling and tech will set the tone for future Volvos. The business case isn’t EV-specific either. The EX90 has the same form factor as Volvo’s popular XC90 SUV, which it one-ups in tech. Volvo isn’t trying to prove that it can make an EV; it’s already done that with the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge. It’s just trying to make a good car.
“There are no gimmicks in the EX90.” Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan said in a keynote at the EV’s reveal in Stockholm. “All the technology that’s there is there for a reason.” And boy, is there a lot of it.

Stylish and sustainable
The EX90 is a conventional SUV design with the sharp edges shaved away. There isn’t even a hint of a grille, the door handles sit flush with the bodywork, and the wheels have smooth inserts between the spokes. It’s all to help minimize aerodynamic drag — an important consideration for an EV, as it helps increase range.
The result is a coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.29, compared to 0.33 for the current Volvo XC90 three-row SUV (lower numbers are better). The EX90 isn’t the slipperiest electric SUV around; the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV has a 0.26 Cd. But Volvo’s designers retained a more traditional SUV shape, in line with the gasoline Volvo XC90, without resorting to the Jell-O mold shape of the Mercedes.
“The profile and a bit of the plan view is a bit rounder than maybe we’ve done in the past,” Volvo exterior design boss T. Jon Mayer told Digital Trends. “It’s not a jellybean blob by any means, but there are very minute details of how much roundness you put around the edges. This detail work, as well as a longer rear overhang, help keep air flowing smoothly around the car while following the minimalist ethos of Scandinavian design, keeping the bodywork visually clean.
The EX90 is a conventional SUV design with the sharp edges shaved away.

Cars

Business upfront, 31-inch TV in the back. BMW’s electric i7 is a screening room on wheels

Front three quarter view of the 2023 BMW i7.

The BMW 7 Series has been the venerable German automaker’s flagship for more than 40 years, but with its latest redesign, BMW is taking things in a new — and electrifying — direction.
The 2023 BMW i7 xDrive60 (or i7 for short) is the first all-electric 7 Series in the model’s history. It’s positioned against electric luxury sedans like the Lucid Air, Tesla Model S, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan, a longtime BMW rival. But BMW took a different approach with its electric chariot of the affluent.
Because while those other EVs are based on clean-sheet designs, the i7 is just one version of a car that continues with combustion engines. It shares styling and tech — including an available fold-down, rear-seat widescreen monitor — with internal-combustion 7 Series models. So it offers a more traditional approach to luxury for EV buyers who don’t want to change anything about their cars except the method of propulsion.
Those buyers will also pay a slight premium. The i7 starts at $120,295, compared to $114,595 for the 760i xDrive, the first gasoline 7 Series model of the new generation. BMW also plans to offer a less expensive gasoline 740i for $94,295 sometime after launch. But when you’re spending this much on a new car, those aren’t huge differences.

Design and interior
The new 7 Series — and by extension the i7 — is sure to prove controversial due to BMW’s new front-end styling, which combines a massive grille sure to stoke internet memes and odd-looking two-tiered headlights. The effect is exaggerated by an available blacked-out front-end treatment, which makes it look like parts are missing.
Those styling elements carry over from gasoline 7 Series models to the i7, as does the hulk-like body shell, which is abnormally tall for a sedan, requiring steps at the hood and rear bumper to blend them with the thick center section of the body. The i7 also retains a long protruding hood, which is necessary to house the engine in gasoline 7 Series models, but is just an affectation here.
BMW claims the i7 will appeal to buyers who want a traditional luxury sedan first and an EV second. To be fair, the i7 is much more conventional-looking than the streamlined Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan and Lucid Air, or the grille-less Tesla Model S. But some of that work has been undone by BMW’s unorthodox design choices in other areas, which may not appeal to traditionalists either.
The i7 is sure to prove controversial due to BMW's new front-end styling.

Cars

2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV preview: The EV lineup grows again

Front three quarter view of the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.

As Mercedes-Benz has steadily expanded its EQ range of electric cars, the lineup has become a bit like the late stages of a Tetris game. It’s mostly complete, but with a few gaps still left. And the 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV is the piece that perfectly fits one of them.
Mercedes recently launched two other electric SUVs at opposite ends of the price spectrum. The EQS SUV is positioned as the lineup’s flagship, while the EQB is the entry-level model. The EQE SUV slots between those two in size and, presumably, price. The latter hasn’t been confirmed yet, and likely won’t be until the EQE SUV’s planned March 2023 on-sale date.

Design
As the name says, the EQE SUV is a utility-vehicle version of the EQE sedan, which will likely beat it to showrooms by a few months. Mercedes did the same thing with the EQS, which is available in both SUV and sedan body styles.
With its tall, upright profile, the EQE SUV definitely looks like a proper SUV compared to the low-slung EQE sedan. Park it next to an EQS SUV, though, and you’ll have to get out a measuring tape to spot the differences.
The EQE SUV is 0.6 inch narrower and 1.2 inches lower than the EQS SUV, but the most significant difference is in length. The EQE SUV is 10.3 inches shorter than the EQS SUV, with a 2.1-inch shorter wheelbase. And while the EQS SUV has three-row seating, the EQE SUV has two rows. Based on our experience with the EQS SUV’s third row, that’s not a big loss.
The interior design theme carries over from other Mercedes EQ models, with an expansive sloping dashboard designed to accommodate many screens, and multicolor ambient lighting that should look pretty dramatic at night. However, leatherette upholstery is standard, rather than real leather, which Mercedes is now spinning as a vegan option.