Bentley has revealed the Torcal, the first fully electric car in its 107-year history. The low, five-metre SUV made its global debut in London on 23 September and becomes the British marque's fourth model line. It was designed, engineered and built in Crewe, the town in north-west England where Bentley has made its cars since 1946.
Bentley's chief executive, Frank-Steffen Walliser, has set expectations high. "Our new car sets extraordinary benchmarks in every area that matters, and may just be the most considered car in our history," he said, in comments reported by The National, the Abu Dhabi newspaper that previewed the car at Bentley's Pyms Lane factory in June.
The Torcal opens Bentley's electric era without closing its combustion one. Bentley says buyers can choose between combustion, plug-in hybrid and fully electric powertrains across its range, and the company has moved its target for an all-electric line-up to 2035.
A new face for Bentley
The Torcal introduces a new design language, drawn by Bentley's own design team in Crewe. The company describes the car as a low, sleek SUV, and at five metres long it is the shortest four-door model in the range.
The front is defined by an illuminated diamond grille and, as The National notes, the signature round headlamps are gone. At the rear, the designers shaped muscular haunches around an idea they call the "resting beast", a sense of strength and energy held within the form. A diamond motif runs through the whole car, and the Torcal is the first Bentley to wear the company's redesigned, modernised emblem. The core model rides on 21-inch wheels; the sportier S has 22-inch wheels as standard.
There are four powered doors, controlled by radar, which can open and close by themselves. The boot holds 460 litres, with a further 90 litres of storage at the front, and a turning circle of 11.1 metres is meant to make the car easy to manoeuvre in town.
Craft in the cabin
Inside, Bentley has kept faith with real buttons. Physical controls remain on the centre console and the steering wheel, alongside curved OLED screens and an augmented-reality head-up display, which projects driving information onto the view of the road ahead. There is no separate screen for the front passenger.
The materials carry the craft story. A new fabric of pure Merino wool was developed with Fox Brothers, a Somerset firm that has woven fine wool since the 18th century, and Bentley says it is the first automotive wool fabric certified under the Responsible Wool Standard. Ombré Walnut by Mulliner, Bentley's personal-commissions division, is a new finish formed from up to 1,000 individually selected layers of walnut off-cuts and recycled paper. Sunburst Aluminium, also by Mulliner, reinterprets the engine-turned aluminium dashboards of earlier Bentleys with a three-way brushed pattern. Customers can choose from 15 shades of olive-tanned leather, five wool colours and six wood veneers.
The standard seats offer 16-way adjustment, heating, ventilation, adjustable bolsters and massage, and the optional Wellness Seat extends the massage from the backrest into the cushion. The rear seat takes three people and, for the first time in a Bentley, folds electrically. Overhead, a switchable-glass sunroof called Frosted Diamond covers the cabin.
Even the sound has been crafted. To create what it calls the Bentley Dynamic Symphony, Bentley recorded real instruments, including drums, viola and bass guitar, so that the car gives the driver audible feedback rather than simply imitating an engine note. A 1,780-watt, 28-speaker system developed with Naim is available.
Power, range and charging
Beneath the craft sits a serious electric car. Two motors, one at the front and one at the rear, draw on an 800-volt battery with a net capacity of 113 kWh. The core Torcal produces 821 PS, the metric measure of horsepower, and 1,194 Nm, reaches 60 mph (about 97 km/h) in 3.3 seconds and has a top speed of 250 km/h. The S produces 888 PS and 1,350 Nm with Launch Control engaged, reaches 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and tops out at 260 km/h.
Bentley quotes a range of up to 600 km (375 miles). On a 400 kW charger, the battery can go from 10 to 80 per cent in just under 20 minutes, and it is covered by a ten-year, 100,000-mile warranty. All-wheel steering is standard, and fully active suspension removes the need for conventional anti-roll bars.
What Gulf buyers know so far
For readers in the region, the essentials are still to come. Bentley has not announced the Torcal's price, its delivery dates or when it will reach the Middle East. A day after the debut, the company also presented a new brand vision for Bentley and its retailers.
Walliser has never pretended the change would be simple. "The move to the electric car is maybe the most demanding task in the history of the car," he told The National in February 2025. With the Torcal, Bentley has given its answer: an electric car that leans on wool, walnut and real buttons, built in the same Crewe factory as the cars that came before it.
Sources: Bentley Motors, The National