Bentley’s very first EV brings some bold styling and serious power.
A few years back, luxury automakers across the board made at least some commitment toward new electric models, and now we’re getting the first actual production model out of Bentley. This is the 2028 Torcal, named after the El Torcal de Antequera rock formation in Spain and offering an equally grandiose SUV option for luxury-minded buyers with both bold styling and serious power, torque and speed.
Right off the bat, the Torcal (prounounced “tor-call“) has a far more squared-off front end than the Bentayga, with an in-tour-face illuminated grille flanked by rectangular headlights and thin daytime running lights, instead of Bentley’s usual quad-light setup. It’s certainly a different look, and likely a polarizing one depending on your take of what the brand’s offerings should look like. The automaker says this model’s front-end look echoes past models like the 80s and 90s Continentals (more specifically, the Continental T). Around back, the Torcal incorporates a “prestigious shield” look, with thin lights and badging taken from the EXP 15 concept car.
On the performance front, the 2028 Bentley Torcal is a powerhouse, as these high-end electric SUVs tend to be. It does share bones with the Porsche Cayenne Electric, after all, so you get an appropriately punchy dual motor setup. Bentley actually offers two different versions, with the “standard” Torcal putting out 810 horsepower and 881 lb-ft of torque. If that’s not enough for you, then there’s an S version, which bumps the output up to 876 horsepower and almost 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Hey, 996 lb-ft is close enough, right? According to Bentley, that’s enough shove for a 0-60 sprint in just 2.8 seconds.
On the flip side, there’s also the matter of bringing all this mass to a stop. Bentley is no stranger to huge brakes, and the Torcal absolutely sticks to that formula. Up front, you can get a set of massive 17.1-inch silicon carbide rotors, with only slightly smaller 16.1-inch discs out back. Both all-season and summer tires will be available, as will different wheel options between 21 and 22 inches to suit your tastes, and whether you get the standard Torcal or the S.
Like the Porsche Cayenne EV, the Torcal rides on a 119-inch wheelbase, packs a 103-kWh (gross capacity) battery pack, and runs on an 800-volt electrical architecture. Bentley says its setup for its electric SUV enables 375 miles of total driving range, as well as 400 kW DC fast-charging capability — enough to charge from 10-80% in just under 20 minutes, or replenish 100 miles of range in about seven minutes.
The Bentley Torcal’s interior loses some classic touches, but also brings in new features.
Depending on which version of the Torcal you look at, you may not see the acres of wood you’d expect from more classic Bentleys. You also don’t get the plunger-style HVAC vent controls. You do still get some physical climate controls below the curved OLED display, but on the whole this SUV takes on a far more minimalist design when it comes to switchgear…apart from the steering wheel. The driver gets a ton of controls on each side spoke, while you also get an augmented reality head-up display.
The features hardly stop there, either. The 2028 Bentley Torcal features the brand’s first electronically dimmable panoramic sunroof, while you also get power opening and closing doors, an optional 28-speaker Naim sound system, a set of 25 different radars, sensors and cameras for the driver assistance features, and rear-wheel steering that helps reduce this relatively large SUV’s turning circle to 36.4 feet (11.1 meters).
Both inside and outside, the Torcal also pipes sound out so there’s some audio feedback when the car’s moving. Don’t expect a Hans Zimmer-like, sci-fi whoosh of a BMW iX or a faked V8, though. Rather than trying to imitate a V8 full-stop, Bentley used instruments like drums, a viola and a bass guitar to create a distinctive sound that you’ll be able to hear as an occupant, and onlookers will be able to hear on the outside when you’re moving through an external speakers. Bentley also says they captured the “subtle variations and tiny imperfections” in its attempts to capture the V8’s firing order, so that will hopefully give it a more authentic flavor. In my opinion, at least, it beats not having any sound at all.
Let’s answer the six-figure question…
Of course, there are two questions with the 2028 Bentley Torcal I haven’t gotten to yet. When will it be available, and how much will it cost? Well, to most folks out there it’s a case of “if you have to ask”. For a car that offers 15 different shade of olive tan leather, for example, you know it’s going to come at a premium.
That said, Bentley did not officially announce pricing with the Torcal’s debut. It will almost certainly cost a fair bit, though perhaps not as much as the gas-powered Bentayga, at least to start. You have to convince people into a full EV, after all, so odds are we’ll see pricing start lower than what most people shell out for its gas sibling: Expect a price tag around $225,000 or so. On the upper end, the Torcal S might come closer to matching the pricier Bentaygas, but we’ll have an update to that effect when Bentley does formalize a pricing structure.
The new Bentley Torcal will arrive early next year for those well-heeled enough to buy one, as a 2028 model.
