Posted on 02/22/2023 12:49:40 PM PST by Twotone
Bentley Motors plans to end production of its 12-cylinder engine next April as the famed luxury carmaker transitions to electric vehicles.
The British automaker of ultra-luxury performance cars said the milestone would be celebrated with the most powerful version of the W12 engine ever created, with 740 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque.
Bentley said the upgraded engine will only be used in 18 Bentley Baturs — handcrafted two-seat performance cars that start at about $2 million. The vehicles are already sold, the prestigious automaker said.
“The time has come to retire this now-iconic powertrain as we take strides toward electrification,” Bentley Chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a release.
The end of the W12 is the latest example of automakers pivoting to all-electric vehicles. Bentley last year said it would spend 2.5 billion pounds (about $3 billion) over the next decade to become a fully electric luxury brand by 2030.
The company, which is owned by Volkswagen
, said a limited number of W12 engines with 649 horsepower are available for versions of the Continental GT, Bentayga and Flying Spur.
Production of the W12 engine will be replaced with expanded assembly of V8 and V6 hybrid engines, according to the company. Bentley says it has produced more than 100,000 of the W12 engines since the assembly began in 2003.
Christophe Georges, CEO of Bentley Americas, declined to comment on when the company plans to phase out the V8 and V6 engine, beyond reiterating the previously announced plan of 2030.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
Looks like we’re all going to go to EVs whether we like it or not.
This is BS, I'm crossing Bentley off my list of potential car purchases now ! :)
Anyone who can afford a Bentley can bribe government electricity providers to allow them all the juice they need. Sucks to be a peasant…
This BS is gonna result in the biggest automotive disaster since the Edsel.
No longer a brand I will follow
Honestly, I doubt any car Bentley sell is driven more than 100 miles a week on average. This is a niche where an EV might make sense
The Edsel wasn’t really a disaster except in reputation. EV’s are really going to be a disaster.
The thing is we will turn into Cuba with average person hanging on to their ICE cars for decades instead of for years. ICE cars will be like gold. ICE cars will be in peoples will.
I wonder where they will get the electricity to power all these batteries from?
Toyota wil be the last name brand standing.
The EV is a solution looking for a problem.
Rascal scooters (EV's) all over the interstates, with dead batteries.
“...owned by Volkswagen.”
The stars of Diesel-gate, so the virtue signaling has to be extra strong.
Remind me, who won the war?
They had better keep the tooling around for the day EV meets reality.
Headline in the future some day...Bentley to resume production of ultra- performance 12-Cylinder engine.
The problem is that we're short about 100 million charging stations and the electricity to power them, that's all.
That’s to be expected since those who demand they be forced down our throats largely comes from ranks of people who not only do not understand economics (having been polluted by Marxist comprehensions) but who also are also often the very folks who will fight tooth and nail to prevent the power grid from being expanded to meet the demand EVs will cause.
For me the problem is the LONG recharge time. EVs can never replace ICE vehicles. The whole thing is insane.
Don’t fire yor ICE engineers or throw away the blue prints....
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