The luxury automaker has invested billions towards sustainability.
Although ICE products such as the Bentley Continental GT and Bentayga are still very successful, the British marque has to get working on an electrified product if it wants to retain its presence in the global market. That's exactly why it has announced a pledge of $3.4 billion towards sustainability which will be invested over the next 10 years.
With this, the company has announced that production for its first-ever battery electric vehicle has been secured. Funds will be allocated to the historic Crewe facility where the current range of cars is put together. Furthermore, Bentley promises that the UK's economy will benefit from a significant boost and that the 4,000 employees at the plant will enjoy extended job security.
As part of the company's Beyond100 strategy, Bentley plans to have its fully electric car hit the production line by 2025. Five years after this, it hopes to achieve end-to-end carbon neutrality. It will start this off by transforming the current Crewe layout into a "next-generation digital, low environmental impact, high-value advanced manufacturing facility".
Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, Adrian Hallmark, says, "Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley's illustrious history, and in the luxury segment. It's an ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business system, including the shift to 100 percent BEV in just eight years."
As you can expect, an electric product is essential to Bentley's survival in the modern automotive world. It has already taken the first steps to clean its act up by discontinuing the iconic W12 powertrain in the regular Continental GT and implementing hybrid options for both its sedan and SUV ranges. The Continental remains ICE-only but there is a serious consideration to change this fairly soon.
The funds allocated to the Crewe facility will aid the company in its journey to creating a carbon-neutral product. So far, Bentley has already made significant changes to the location by installing several renewable sources such as solar panels, and a large tank for renewable fuel. It also added 130 charging ports around the entire campus for future electrified products.
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