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Written by Stephen Dobie
Have you heard the one about the electric Bentley? While the rest of the Geneva motor show seems to be all about speed, it"s the British luxury marque that"s bothered to make an environmentally friendly car. Go figure.This is no Leaf or Twizy rival, though. It"s a very pretty two-seater convertible that reminds us of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster.The EXP 12 Speed 6e we"ll just call it the Speed 6e, for snappiness" sake is a concept car. On the surface it shows us how 2015"s EXP 10 Speed 6 concept looks as a convertible.But beyond that, it also shows us what form an electric Bentley could take. Which doesn"t seem to be hugely different to a regular, petrol-powered 12-cylinder Bentley."You"re freed up a little bit from the technical constraints of a combustion engine," says Bentley"s head of exterior design, JP Gregory. "You don"t need as large a grille, and you can play a little bit with that sort of stuff. But we thought the moment we lose the grille is the moment we lose the Bentley identity."So all the key Bentley identifiers are present: large honeycomb-effect mesh grille, twin round headlights, and copious flying Bs. But everything"s been given a subtle makeover for the Speed 6e"s electric propulsion. So copper detailing is picked out exquisitely in the grille and the Bentley badging, a theme which really continues inside.There"s some incredible detailing that is surely wasted on the quick two-minute shuffle inside most Geneva-goers will enjoy. Many surfaces are interwoven with copper, plenty others beautifully knurled. Those diamond-design door inlays, meanwhile, are each carved from a single piece of wood. The labour required is quantified as "a number of hours".The interior highlights even casual onlookers will spot, though, include separate pods" for driver and passenger, marked out by some fairly bold sculpturing, and that steering wheel."We wanted to do something concept car", and I think it was a nice opportunity to do this kind of open-top to really open up this space," Gregory comments on the wheel. Those copper rocket buttons trigger an electric boost mode for the drivetrain.Only they don"t, not yet. This concept car only has enough electrical power to move it on and off show stands, and there"s no hypothetical combination of motors and batteries, nor a power figure, that Bentley wants to discuss. You"d imagine four-wheel drive, clever torque vectoring, and north of 600bhp in a production car, though.
Date written: 6 Mar 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6968
Have you heard the one about the electric Bentley? While the rest of the Geneva motor show seems to be all about speed, it"s the British luxury marque that"s bothered to make an environmentally friendly car. Go figure.This is no Leaf or Twizy rival, though. It"s a very pretty two-seater convertible that reminds us of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster.The EXP 12 Speed 6e we"ll just call it the Speed 6e, for snappiness" sake is a concept car. On the surface it shows us how 2015"s EXP 10 Speed 6 concept looks as a convertible.But beyond that, it also shows us what form an electric Bentley could take. Which doesn"t seem to be hugely different to a regular, petrol-powered 12-cylinder Bentley."You"re freed up a little bit from the technical constraints of a combustion engine," says Bentley"s head of exterior design, JP Gregory. "You don"t need as large a grille, and you can play a little bit with that sort of stuff. But we thought the moment we lose the grille is the moment we lose the Bentley identity."So all the key Bentley identifiers are present: large honeycomb-effect mesh grille, twin round headlights, and copious flying Bs. But everything"s been given a subtle makeover for the Speed 6e"s electric propulsion. So copper detailing is picked out exquisitely in the grille and the Bentley badging, a theme which really continues inside.There"s some incredible detailing that is surely wasted on the quick two-minute shuffle inside most Geneva-goers will enjoy. Many surfaces are interwoven with copper, plenty others beautifully knurled. Those diamond-design door inlays, meanwhile, are each carved from a single piece of wood. The labour required is quantified as "a number of hours".The interior highlights even casual onlookers will spot, though, include separate pods" for driver and passenger, marked out by some fairly bold sculpturing, and that steering wheel."We wanted to do something concept car", and I think it was a nice opportunity to do this kind of open-top to really open up this space," Gregory comments on the wheel. Those copper rocket buttons trigger an electric boost mode for the drivetrain.Only they don"t, not yet. This concept car only has enough electrical power to move it on and off show stands, and there"s no hypothetical combination of motors and batteries, nor a power figure, that Bentley wants to discuss. You"d imagine four-wheel drive, clever torque vectoring, and north of 600bhp in a production car, though.
Date written: 6 Mar 2017
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 6968
