The all-electric Bentley 'Urban SUV' is coming and this is our best look yet
Crewe’s luxury EV looks set to break all kinds of records
While Bentley’s Beyond 100 plans have shifted, the first all-electric Bentley still is forging ahead and we’ve just been given our best look yet at the new SUV.
Courtesy of a new picture of a cloaked car, the first official teaser image of the electric SUV, we can see the new Bentley’s production body work for the first time. Called an ‘Urban SUV’ by the luxury brand, it’ll be revealed in 2026 ahead of first customer deliveries in 2027.
The Bentley Urban SUV’s exterior design
We’ve seen the electric Bentley SUV testing on the road before, however those cars had plenty of cladding hiding the exterior design. The latest teaser from Bentley shows off the car’s profile, certainly as a sleeker treatment than the firm’s current, and only, SUV - the Bentayga.
The nose of the Urban SUV is relatively long and coupled with the high-set wheel arches, it looks pretty purposeful - especially given that it’s billed as an SUV. Up front we can just about see a thin LED headlight strip, though previous test cars have used a quad headlight display similar to Porsche’s.
The roofline extends almost all the way to the rear of the car, rather than sloping down to provide a coupe-SUV shape. The wheelbase also looks proportionally long - possibly needed to house the battery between the axles.
The Crewe firm says the design will be ‘pure Bentley’, though it’ll come in a "more advanced and modern way".
Bentley’s research and development chief, Matthias Rabe said the Urban EV will be “really comfortable like the Flying Spur, agile like a Continental GT, and acceleration will be the best in a Bentley ever".
That’ll make it quicker than the new Continental GT Ultra Performance Hybrid, which dispatches the 0-62mph sprint in 3.2 seconds. “It’s not just fast-driving, it’s fast-charging. To charge 100 miles takes less than seven minutes,” added Rabe.
Alongside Bentley’s teaser image, Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, CEO of Bentley, also said: “Our first fully electric Bentley, represents a bold step forward, it embodies our vision for sustainable luxury and technological excellence. With industry-leading charging capability and unmistakable Bentley character and design, it marks the beginning of an exciting new era for our brand - a future defined by innovation, craftsmanship, and sustainability.”
We'll have to wait for pricing details of Bentley's smaller SUV but you can currently buy a used Bentley Bentayga from around £60,000 through the Auto Express Buy A Car service.
Bentley Urban SUV: spotted on the road
The new Urban SUV’s classic two-box design has a generous bonnet, with a relatively compact front overhang and steeply raked windscreen. This will help with the car’s high-speed aerodynamics, and hopefully feature some form of under-bonnet storage.
While the Bentley EV is still under thick camouflage in the teaser picture, previous spy shots have given us an indication of the SUV proportions on the road. At under five metres it’s shorter than the 5.1-metre long Bentayga, though elements like Bentley’s typically upright front end will remain, albeit influenced by the styling of the recent Bentley EXP15 concept car, rather than its existing model range.
The tailgate and lower rear bumper are all clad in camouflage, but expect the overall design to move away from the existing oval-shapes of the Bentayga and Continental. Instead it will be influenced by the EXP15 and its more angular rear lighting.
The wheels on the test car we spotted are 22 inches in diameter and yet don’t over-fill the wheel arches. The body also sits quite low, suggesting that off-road ability won’t be a main consideration.
There are a couple of other little things this new prototype reveals, such as the use of frameless windows (a first for a Bentley SUV) and the fact the lower front intake looks to lift up at its extreme edges, similar to how the EXP 15’s integrate into its vertical headlights.
Bentley Urban SUV: range and power
Along with the record acceleration claims and charging speed (up to 100 miles at least) Bentley has already confirmed that its new SUV will share lots of its technical elements with the forthcoming Porsche Cayenne EV. It will sit on the latest version of Porsche’s PPE platform, which means it will integrate an 800V architecture, with dual-motors and lots of new-age chassis technology.
The Bentley will draw from the upper-end of the new Cayenne’s technical toybox, which could include a 112kWh battery pack, with 400kW charging and up to 1000bhp from its electric motors.
We also know that Porsche’s new Cayenne will feature standard air suspension with new dual-valve damper technology, plus the option of the incredible Active-Ride system that’s already available on the Taycan and Panamera.
It’s far too early to suggest potential range figures at this stage, but the extra weight and aerodynamic compromises of the Bentley’s more upright shape will hinder it next to the Porsche, so a range of around 350-370 miles seems reasonable.
Speaking to Auto Express, CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser offered up a bit more detail, saying: “The concept is super-versatile – you can use it for long range or you can use it in the city. We also want to attract new customers, and we think with that concept it really adds something new to Bentley.” He also made it clear that this is not a replacement for anything in the firm’s current line-up.
Bentley Urban SUV: interior and design
The Bentley’s cabin design and tech remain unknown. Depending on the model, Bentley has typically drawn its digital hardpoints from Porsche, but the new Cayenne’s user interface, including its vertically mounted centre display with a curved lower section, could be difficult to integrate into Bentley’s more classic design language.
Instead, we expect to see the interior taking inspiration from the EXP15 concept, retaining the classic ‘Bentley Wings’ dashboard layout, only with extended digital interfaces and more opulent graphics. It’s not yet known whether Bentley will use the new electric SUV as a canvas to introduce a more digitised experience, or retain the mechanical buttons and switches its current models feature.
Either way, expect the materials to be far more opulent than the Porsche, with a combination of high-quality leather, wood and metals to be featured heavily. As this model will be built at Bentley’s Pyms Lane plant in Crewe, we expect the full use of Bentley’s mastery of these elements to be integrated into the new SUV’s design.
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