Bentley cars will be fully electric by 2030

 All new Bentley cars will be fully electric by 2030

Bentley will announce two new plug-in hybrids in 2021, before going fully electric by 2030.

All new cars produced by Bentley beginning in 2030 will be fully electric, the company announced.

The luxury automaker says it plans to be a "world leader in sustainable luxury mobility" and will begin the transition from gasoline to electricity with the launch of two new plug-in hybrid cars in 2021. These will join the Bentayga plug-in SUV that is currently offered. by Bentley.

Called the Beyond100 strategic plan, and designed to guide Bentley throughout its second century, the roadmap to electrification will see the British firm make a dramatic change from being the world's largest producer of V12 engines to its vehicles that use exclusively electric motors.

The move is expected to make Bentley end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, and its production operations to be "climate positive" after that.

Bentley says its first all-electric car will arrive in 2025, and a year later, the company's entire line of new vehicles will be either hybrid or electric. This means that current gasoline-only models, such as the Flying Spur's V8 and V12 variants, will be replaced by plug-in hybrid alternatives.

Future electric Bentleys are likely to be inspired by the 2019 EXP 100 GT concept.

The company added today, November 5, how it will "deliver a full suite of exclusively electric vehicles, permanently moving away from the production of hybrid and gasoline cars." Hybrid vehicles will act as a "springboard" toward full electrification, added Bentley, which is owned by the Volkswagen Group.

The switch to electricity makes perfect sense for a luxury automaker like Bentley. While its V8 and especially V12 engines have a character of their own, they are primarily designed to be quiet, smooth and powerful - all features that a battery pack and electric motors can offer, and in even greater quantities.

A smooth, quiet Bentley with mountains of torque is exactly the kind of electric powertrain they lend themselves to, while the weight of batteries is less of a concern when today's Bentleys put luxury and refinement before weight savings.

Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: “Since 1919, Bentley has defined the great luxury tours. Staying at the forefront of progress is part of our DNA - the original Bentley Boys were pioneers and leaders. Now, as we look at Beyond100, we will continue to lead by reinventing the company and becoming the benchmark luxury car business in the world. "