Bentley has unveiled the Torcal, its first fully electric car, placing a £350m wager on the willingness of luxury buyers to move to batteries while retaining the character they expect from the marque. The SUV, revealed on 23 September 2026, starts at £173,000 and will go on sale early next year as a 2028 model.
The Torcal will be built at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, Cheshire, northwest England, on a new production line created with the factory investment. The site has been the carmaker’s headquarters since 1946. The line is housed in one of the original factory buildings, dating from 1938, which has served as a machining shop and later as a research and development workshop.
The arrangement gives Bentley’s electric programme an unusually literal link to its past. Its new battery-powered model will emerge from a building used for some of the older, less glamorous work of making cars, rather than from a separate site designed to signal a clean break.
Frank-Steffen Walliser, Bentley’s chief executive, said the company’s focus was on preserving its identity as it enters the electric market. “Our intention was always to make a Bentley first,” he said. “We feel people are not asking for a completely different car just because it's electric.”
The Torcal becomes Bentley’s fourth model line, joining the Continental GT, Flying Spur and Bentayga. It also marks a change in the company’s approach to electrification. Bentley had previously delayed the launch of its first electric vehicle until 2026 and has abandoned its target of becoming fully electric by 2030.
Its first electric offering is positioned at the lower end of Bentley’s price range, making it an entry point to the company’s battery-powered future. The model has a 113kWh battery and a claimed range of up to 375 miles (600km). Bentley says it can charge from 10% to 80% in less than 20 minutes with a 400kW charger.
Performance remains central to the sales pitch. The standard Torcal has a top speed of 155mph and takes 3.3 seconds to reach 60mph. The Torcal S reaches 162mph and completes the same acceleration in 2.8 seconds. Bentley says the S has peak torque of 1,350 Nm, the highest of any Bentley it has made.
Walliser said inquiries were divided roughly evenly between existing Bentley owners and first-time buyers. The company has shown the Torcal to current and prospective customers and reported strong interest from Europe, the Middle East and U.S. states where electric-vehicle adoption is high. A launch campaign in China is planned for next year.
The Crewe investment also has importance beyond Bentley’s own production plans. Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said it would support 4,000 high-value local jobs in Crewe. He described the £350m commitment as Britain’s third major automotive win in seven days, following £500m from McLaren and £170m from Nissan.
Bentley is supplied by more than 700 businesses, including 82 within a 50-mile radius of its base. The factory upgrade therefore ties the Torcal to a broader local supply chain, though Bentley has not set out production volumes or detailed the role of those suppliers in making the new model.
The wider luxury market has taken differing approaches to electric cars. Lamborghini has delayed its first electric model until late in the decade, while McLaren has said it has no plans for an EV. Ferrari’s electric model, the Luce, has a starting price of €550,000. Bentley’s £173,000 starting price places the Torcal in a different part of that market, with the company seeking to test demand through a model designed to look and perform as a Bentley.
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