Even the ultra-luxury manufacturers are going electrical as of late, with Rolls-Royce launching the Spectre (the primary ultra-luxury all-electric coupe) final 12 months. Bentley is taking a barely completely different method, with a give attention to hybrids; it does have one totally electrical car in its lineup, simply not fairly what you would possibly anticipate.
Whereas the model is thought immediately for high-tech luxurious fashions such because the Continental GT and the upcoming new Flying Spur, each of which nonetheless sport a combustion engine as a part of a hybrid powertrain, the primary automobile with a Bentley badge powered totally by electrical energy is a unusual, retro creation. It is an 85% scale copy of the long-lasting Bentley Blower, the racing variant of the Bentley 4½ Liter produced in 1929, and it’s utterly street authorized. Whereas the unique Blower derived its identify from its supercharger, the identify survives for historic continuity within the trendy electrical recreation, dubbed the Bentley Blower Jnr. Let’s discover the historical past of the unique Bentley Blower, its diminutive, all-electric descendant, and Bentley’s plans for electrification sooner or later.
The place It All Started: The Authentic Bentley Blower
An icon of pre-war motorsport, the unique Bentley Blower traces its origins again to a mannequin referred to as the Bentley 4½ Litre, which had gone into manufacturing a few years earlier, in 1927. The successor to the Bentley 3 Litre, the 4½ Litre was developed to construct on its predecessor’s success within the quickly rising world of motorsport, notably the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Within the mid-Nineteen Twenties, a 6½ Litre mannequin was out there alongside the three Litre (which was by now underpowered and previous its heyday). Nevertheless, its repute had been broken by poor tire efficiency. Bentley’s answer was to develop a brand-new mannequin and this was achieved by eradicating two cylinders from the 6½ Litre, creating the 4½ Litre.
On the time, Bentleys had been being raced world wide by a small group of well-off British motorists who gained the nickname of “Bentley Boys”; one in all them, a racing driver referred to as Sir Henry “Tim” Birkin, took it upon himself to create a supercharged model of the 4½ Litre, with the assistance of a former Bentley mechanic; this went towards the rules of the model’s founder, W.O. Bentley, who most popular bigger displacement to pressured induction. (The Blower, nevertheless, was not the primary Bentley mannequin to be outfitted with a supercharger, that title going to a 3 Litre mannequin in 1926). Regardless of Bentley’s opposition to the Blower challenge, he was unable to cease it from going forward as by that time he had misplaced management of the corporate to a different Bentley Boy, shareholder and chairman Woolf Barnato.
In 1929, the Bentley Blower was launched to the world on the British Worldwide Motor Present in London. In subsequent years it was sadly hampered by reliability points, which prevented it from reaching the extent of success in motorsport that Birkin was initially hoping for; nevertheless, the Blower’s use of supercharging at a time when pressured induction was nonetheless comparatively unusual made it distinctive and carved out a spot for it in automotive historical past. It additionally managed to set a number of pace data, together with a 138-mph prime pace run at Brooklands Circuit in 1932.
The Creation Of The Blower Jnr.
The Blower Jnr. is the results of a collaboration between Bentley’s Heritage Assortment and specialised British agency Hadley Studios, which builds reduced-scale variations of iconic automobiles. The Blower Jnr., nevertheless, differs from Hadley Studios’ different creations in a single essential approach: it’s totally road-legal, and designed particularly for use on the street.
The event course of, in fact, concerned the unique Workforce Automobile (one in all 4 Blowers constructed and raced by Sir Birkin within the Nineteen Twenties). The automobile was used as a blueprint from which all particulars had been meticulously replicated on an 85% scale, with conventional supplies complementing trendy ones: the rear part of the physique construction is made out of carbon fiber as an alternative of wooden, however coated in impregnated cloth to duplicate the appear and feel of the unique. The aluminum hood is fixed with leather-based straps, staying true to the Blower’s design.
The weather that made up the unique Blower’s inner combustion powertrain have been cleverly repurposed to accommodate an all-electric one: the gas pressurization hand pump is now a drive mode selector (there are three modes to select from: Consolation, Bentley, or Sport). The enduring supercharger that gave the unique automobile its identify, in the meantime, is now a housing for the charging port, integrating trendy know-how with a traditional look. The Blower Jnr.’s 48V electrical motor, mounted on the rear axle, produces 20 hp, nevertheless the highest pace is proscribed to 25 mph within the USA (within the UK and Europe, it could actually attain as much as 45 mph).
The battery pack is tucked away in a hidden undertray, and different mechanical parts, such because the leaf springs and friction dampers, have been stored as period-correct as doable to create an genuine, snug driving expertise. The inside has been given just a few updates as properly: there may be now a small display serving as a navigation unit and reversing digital camera show, plus a hidden USB charging port.
Bentley’s Electrification Technique: The Hybrids
Other than the Blower Jnr., there are presently no fully-electric automobiles constructed by Bentley, though that is going to vary in just a few years’ time (extra on that later). The majority of Bentley’s electrification efforts consists of hybrid fashions: the Flying Spur and Bentayga are presently out there with hybrid powertrains, and the brand new Continental GT Pace was revealed earlier this 12 months with a V8-based hybrid powertrain, producing a mixed output of 771 hp (making it probably the most highly effective Bentley but). The brand new hybrid setup replaces the long-lasting W12 engine that outlined the model for greater than 20 years. Now, your entire vary boasts some type of electrification, and it has had no impression on the status.
What Lies Forward: Plans For A Full-Dimension EV?
Whereas hybrids are the primary focus at this stage on the subject of Bentley’s electrification technique, it seems like we’d have to attend a little bit longer for a completely electrical car. Bentley’s first EV was initially attributable to be launched in 2026, however its launch has now been pushed ahead to 2027, with plans for the total electrification of the model’s lineup not on the horizon till 2033 (though a devoted facility is being constructed for when electrification does ultimately occur). Bentley isn’t the one luxurious automobile model to row again on its EV technique, both: Aston Martin was attributable to launch its first EV in 2025, however this has now been pushed ahead a 12 months.
Bentley’s new method represents a change from its earlier technique: the agency’s “Beyond100” electrification plan initially consisted of abandoning inner combustion by 2030, however as demand for hybrids elevated as an alternative of slowing down, Bentley selected to give attention to hybrid powertrains as an alternative of pushing forward with full electrification. The brand new Flying Spur and Continental are key parts of this technique, and are anticipated to be successful with patrons. The as-yet-unnamed electrical Bentley attributable to hit the market in 2027 additionally confronted one other impediment on its growth pathway: Volkswagen’s Cariad software program division has been experiencing points affecting all VW Group EVs, and with personnel adjustments being made simply over a 12 months in the past, they may require a while to get again on their ft. Appears just like the Blower Jnr. often is the solely electrical Bentley for some time but.
The Dream Manufacturing facility: Bentley’s Different Sustainability Efforts
Producing hybrid and electrical automobiles is a big a part of Bentley’s wider sustainability technique, however not all of it. Bentley can also be working to realize carbon neutrality all through its manufacturing course of, with the “Dream Manufacturing facility” in Crewe being the primary luxurious automobile manufacturing facility on the earth to be licensed as carbon-neutral by the Carbon Belief. Bentley made a dedication to take a position over $3.3 billion in sustainability over the course of the next decade, which can be used in the direction of each electrifying the lineup and updating manufacturing services to realize most sustainability.
The Blower Jnr. could also be small, nevertheless it’s part of one thing greater.
