Bentley unveils its first electric car amid the rubble of the luxury electric vehicle market

Bentley has a name for its first entirely electric car: Torcal. The British brand confirmed this today, alongside a teasing image of the rear of the electric vehicle, promising a full reveal on September 23, 2026. Far more important than the name, however, is the fact that this is Bentley’s first ever fully electric car. Specifications are thin on the ground until the official reveal, but Bentley is willing to let slip that this 16-foot-long SUV will have a range of more than 300 miles.

The word Torcal was already on the radar of Bentley watchers. Earlier this year, trademark registrations showed that Bentley had registered both “Torcal” and “Barnato” in Europe and the United Kingdom, filed against motor vehicles, including electric cars, charging cables and charging stations. Barnato, a nod to the obsessive, racing Bentley driver of the 1920s Woolf Barnatowas named as the favorite. Bentley took the opposite route.

Like the Bentayga and other Bentleys before it, the Torcal name comes from a natural landmark, The Torcal of Antequera in Andalusia, Spain, a limestone landscape of stacked rock formations. Conveniently, Torcal also has automatic connotations, as it derives from Latin twistmeaning to twist, which is where the word torque comes from, describing the force of rotation.

First look

WIRED was invited to a secret reveal of the Torcal, near Bentley’s UK headquarters. Although much of the information distributed that day cannot yet be shared, I can say that this new electric SUV is similar to the Bentayga, in the sense that the lineage between the two is obvious. The Torcal is slightly smaller, with the iconic long hood and straight front. Bentley’s familiar rear haunches above the wheel arches are also present, of course, but perhaps not as well resolved as on the Bentayga.

Still, it’s an attractive, powerful and useful SUV, with a switchable glass sunroof and new light clusters. You can see how different the taillights are from the Bentayga in the teased image, changing from the familiar oval shape to a clean line. However, unlike the Bentayga, the rear roofline lowers, which is now becoming commonplace in electric vehicle design because it means less drag and increases range.

Up front, the Torcal’s most striking visual element is perhaps the new grille: a radiator vent is replaced by a solid wall of luminous crystals with a design apparently influenced by the face of the Continental T. It’s a bold and deliberately discreet touch, a far cry from the evolution towards quiet luxury.

Once inside, thanks to all-round electric doors, it’s nice to see that Bentley’s designers got the message about the switchgear. Buttons for important functions are mixed with OLED screens. The central screen curves pleasantly downwards, in the same way as that of the new Cayenne. Interestingly, Bentley hasn’t followed other premium manufacturers in offering a separate passenger screen, and I’m assured there won’t be an option for that.

The cemetery Torcal is heading to

Bentley Chairman and CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser calls the Torcal “the most highly regarded car” in Bentley history, and it will have to be. Whatever the final specifications of the electric vehicle, this probably comes at the worst time yet to sell a high-end electric car.

Lamborghini has put aside its electric GT Lanzador this year after concluding, in the words of CEO Stephan Winkelmann, that demand among its buyers is “going to almost zero, if not zero.” Ferrari’s first electric vehiclethe Luce, erased billions the company’s market value hours after its reveal in Rome, and Ferrari has now pushed back its second electric model to 2028.

Mercedes-Benz sold only 1,450 of its electric G Wagens in Europe until April 2025, compared to 9,700 for the thermal version. Audi has discontinued the Q8 E-tron after closing its Brussels plant, citing a “global decline in customer orders in the electric luxury class segment.”

Then there is Porsche, Bentley’s stable partner within the Volkswagen Group. The depreciation of the Taycan is so breathtaking some dealers reportedly refused to accept their own brand’s high-performance electric vehicle in exchange. Porsche’s results for 2025 show the group’s operating profit collapsing 93% to 413 million euros, held back by a 3.9 billion euro writedown linked to the reversal of its EV strategy. Rolls Royce Specter sales are down 44 percent. Mercedes’ EQS SUV is down in much the same way.

This is the decidedly difficult state of the luxury electric vehicle market that Bentley wants to bring its new Torcal all-electric SUV into.

Will it be different for Bentley?

Compared to many others Western automobile brands at the momentBentley seems to be fine. Well, sort of. In March, Bentley announced its seventh consecutive year of profitability: 216 million euros in operating profit on 2.6 billion euros in turnover, representing a return on sales of 8.3%. However, this is a decrease of 42 percent compared to the previous year. It is self-funding the conversion of its historic A1 building in Crewe, England, into an electric battery assembly line, as well as a new design center and paint shop. He also, more discreetly, eliminate 275 management and non-manufacturing positions to finance this transition and, just like for other Western brands, Chinese demand is decreasing for Bentley.

Bentley has also hedged its own bet on electric vehicles before. In 2024, a few months after Walliser joined, the company pushed back its goal of going all-electric. five years agofrom 2030 to 2035, as part of a strategy renamed Beyond100 Plus, and plans to continue selling plug-in hybrid and combustion models alongside the Torcal. A second 100% electric Bentley is not expected before 2030.

“Tech seekers who consider themselves opinion makers wanted to have different looking cars, they wanted to show: ‘I’m advanced, I’m into the latest technology.’ That’s why the cars had to look different,” says Walliser. “Now people don’t want that anymore. They just want to have a car, and maybe that’s why our timing might be right. Using all our DNA, being careful, delivering a car that feels authentic – don’t try to play games anymore.”

“It’s an evolution of the brand, and I think it’s the right thing for Bentley to do: not looking for revolutions. We’re looking a little more within the limits,” he says.

It’s a nice idea, but I’m sure Mercedes designers, when they faithfully replicated the combustion version of their G Wagen in electric form, felt the same way. Still, there are reasons to be optimistic, especially when it comes to reinvigorating the Chinese market for Bentley.

Ferrari’s highly controversial first electric vehicle may have been poorly received here in the West and damaged the brand’s value, but signs appear that the 1,035 hp Luce received a completely different reception from wealthy buyers in Asia. Despite its hefty price tag of $586,600, early reports seem to suggest that the country’s entire first-year allocation of 88 units was snapped up almost instantly. Bentley and Walliser no doubt hope the Torcal receives a similar reception.