Bentley’s first electric vehicle will not be launched until the end of 2026 and will not begin deliveries until the following year, CEO Adrian Hallmark said Tuesday as he announced the company’s 2023 financial results.
This means the EV will arrive nearly two years later than Bentley announced in 2020, when plans for the vehicle were announced for the first time. Hallmark said the delay was due to software issues and challenges in getting the vehicle platform provided by the Volkswagen Group to meet the standards required by Bentley.
Hallmark also said Bentley will delay a previous plan to exclusively sell electric vehicles until 2030 due to the changing market landscape. He said Bentley will continue to offer some plug-in hybrid models into the new decade, but only for the first few years until they are replaced by EV successors.
Bentley is among a growing number of car manufacturers that delay EV plans as demand for the vehicles grows more slowly than expected.
![Adrian Hallmark Adrian Hallmark](https://thegurumedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/adrian-hallmark_100748772_l.jpg)
Adrian Hallmark
Despite the delay in its plans for electric vehicles, Bentley is still on track to become a fully electrified brand this decade. Bentley W-12 engine ends production in April and CNBC reported that Bentley’s V-8 engine production will only continue for plug-in hybrid engines starting in July or August.
Interestingly, Hallmark has previously said that Bentley is in the unique position where an EV battery is actually cheaper than a W-12, and that it can’t wait to switch to EVs.
The first EV will be a new model line from Bentley, while subsequent EVs will be redesigned versions of existing model lines. The first EV is believed to be a model that combines sedan and crossover features, and could end up similar to the first EV from the Lamborghini brand, also from the VW Group. The electric Lamborghini is scheduled for 2028 and was presented last year by the Launcher concept.