Bentley turns Flying Spur into plug-in hybrid

By dpa | 20 January 2022


BERLIN: Bentley is giving Flying Spur fans with deep pockets a taste of the electric revolution still to come with a first plug-in hybrid model of the luxury saloon going on sale in the second quarter of 2022.

With a growing number of electric (at least partially) cars, the British manufacturer is inching closer to its goal of becoming a CO2-neutral luxury manufacturer.

By 2025, the company wants to finish its first fully electric car. In 2026 there will be no more pure combustion engines and from 2030 onwards exclusively electric cars.

Announcing the new model in Los Angeles, the British manufacturer said the 5.32-metre-long saloon would be powered by a V6 petrol engine with an electric motor in the gearbox.



Fed by an 18 kWh battery in the boot, the electric motor can cover a good 40km without emissions - then the combustion engine kicks in again. The car's top speed is set at 140kph.

The Flying Spur is following in the tyre tracks of the Bentayga off-roader, which has already been partially electric for four years. However, while the electric motor manages 136hp, the saloon uses a more powerful V6 engine.

Thanks to two turbochargers, it produces 416hp from 2.9 instead of 3.0 litres of displacement and is thus around 20 per cent more powerful than in the Bentayga. This increases the system output to 544hp.

At the same time, both engine and motor together develop a maximum torque of 750Nm. This allows the 2.5-tonne saloon to accelerate from a standstill to 100kph in 4.1 seconds and reach a top speed of 285kph.

Bentley has not yet announced the fuel consumption. But it will be well below the 12.7 litres (CO2 emissions: 288 g/km) that Bentley quotes for the version with the 550hp V8 engine, which will continue to be offered.

Pricing of the new hybrid Flying Spur in Europe is set to start at €210,987 (RM1mil).

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