E-lux-tric vehicle: Bentley previews the ‘urban SUV’ that marks the beginning of the luxury brand’s electric journey

Bentley has given us our first look at the 105-year-old maker’s first EV, and announced that it will be the “world’s first true luxury urban SUV” when sales being in 2026.

Rumoured to measure in at less than five-metres, the new silhouette previews what will become the firm’s most compact Bentley yet.

Set to be positioned below the current Bentayga, that is available as a plug-in hybrid, the new urban SUV teased is primed to ride much lower than a normal SUV, while its smaller size and shrunken body will allow engineers to fit a smaller battery that will save weight and ensure it will be significantly more athletic than the existing full-size SUV.

It’s not been confirmed yet but the firm’s first EV is primed to be based on the Volkswagen Group’s latest PPE architecture that’s already employed under the Porsche Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.

The new platform will also offer cutting-edge tech, like an 800-volt electronic architecture that should ensure the batteries can be topped up at beyond 270kW for a 20-80 per cent charge of around 20 minutes.

Off the back of the new Urban SUV, Bentley also chose the release of the new silhouette of its inbound SUV to clear up some of the confusion over its future plans, with Bentley announcing the unnamed 2026 EV will be just one of 10 battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models to be launched over the next ten years. 

The Urban SUV EV was supposed to be on sale in 2025 but that launch was pushed back a year following the global slowdown in uptake for EVs.

Originally, Bentley said it would transition to become a zero-emission EV brand by 2030 but the Volkswagen-owned luxury brand has now delayed that until 2035, although it’s worth pointing out that, instead of an outright declaration it will become an EV brand in 2035, as part of the new Beyond100+ strategy it will only be Bentley’s ambition to build EVs.

Bridging the gap until then will be new plug-in hybrids that will be built to ensure its combustion engines remains emission-compliant beyond 2030.

Commenting on the new EV plans, newly installed CEO Frank-Steffan Walliser said:

“Beyond100+ becomes our guiding light as we extend our ambitions beyond 2030, while maintaining our aim of a decarbonised future, including offering only fully electric cars from 2035, and reinforcing our credentials as the British creator of extraordinary cars for over a century and beyond.”