I Saw Bentley's First EV In Person. Here's Why The Torcal Will Work

I Saw Bentley's First EV In Person. Here's Why The Torcal Will Work

The new Bentley Torcal debuts with serious performance and unmistakable styling; Bentley may have a winner.

Which of Volkswagen Group’s portfolio of luxury brands has the best shot at weathering the EV transition seamlessly?

Two years ago, I might have said Porsche. The automaker from Zuffenhausen had a clear roadmap, compelling products, and the best brand cachet (and profit margins) in the business. Now, with three EV launches behind it and the delayed 718 sports car still on the horizon, those lofty ambitions haven’t panned out.

Audi, meanwhile, offers multiple mid-pack contenders, but nothing that truly stands out. And Lamborghini is punting EV development into the next decade, citing "close to zero" customer interest.

That leaves one brand: Bentley. And after seeing its first EV in person, the new Torcal, Bentley could have the best shot of convincing buyers to ditch the gas pump than any of VW Group’s other brands.

2028 Bentley Torcal Bright Design Spec

The Bentley Torcal is a mid-size SUV that shares its platform with the Porsche Cayenne Electric. It starts at a steep £165,000 (roughly $225,000)—roughly the same as a Bentayga before options.

The Torcal’s specs are impressive, but it doesn’t chase numbers outright. The standard car packs around 810 horsepower, while the £200,000 ($270,000) S model gets 876. They’ll accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.4 and 2.9 seconds, respectively.

Range is an ample but not class-leading 375 miles on the WLTP cycle, and Bentley feels comfortable that it will achieve 300-plus miles on the EPA test. The Torcal’s charging performance is impressive, as Bentley claims a 10-80 percent charge happens in just 16 minutes on a capable-enough DC fast charger.

Here are some of the Torcal's key specs:

- Horsepower: 810 (Base) / 876 (S)

- 0-60 MPH: 3.4 (Base) / 2.9 (S)

- Range: 375 MIles WLTP (300+ EPA Estimated)

- Charging: 10-80 Percent In 16 Minutes (DC)

We haven’t driven the Torcal yet, but having the Cayenne Electric’s Active Ride chassis is a good start. Bentley says the setup is optimized for grand touring rather than outright sportiness, which is undoubtedly what most Bentley shoppers will prefer.

The tech you do find here is pretty thoughtful. The Torcal’s automatic reverse and parking assistance system records the last 500 meters of any trip, and can be programmed to, say, navigate from a garage entrance to a dedicated parking spot without any input from the driver.

The Torcal does make noise, but not the sort of piped-in engine sounds you’d think. Instead, Bentley recorded drummers playing an irregular rhythm that mimics the firing order of a V8, which thrums at idle and intensifies with engine load. It seems kitschy, but it actually sounds neat in practice.

Design is a huge part of what makes a Bentley a Bentley, and boy is the new Torcal a looker.

The Torcal adapts Bentley’s classic, squared-off grille with a pattern of light-up crystal diamonds—clear-centered on the standard car and black-filled on the S. Its front end is upright and aggressive, the opposite of the blobby EVs we’re used to.

At the rear, a coach hump harkens back to Blower Bentleys of the 1930s, and new LED-strip taillights repeat the diamond motif, while flared wheel arches and haunches give the Torcal a wide visual presence.

In profile and from the rear three-quarter view, the Cayenne platform’s influence is visible in the wheelbase and roofline. But overall, Bentley has done a great job making this design feel cohesive and on-brand. Frankly, it’s one of the best-looking EVs I’ve seen.

Even an entry-level Bentley is still a Bentley, and the Torcal’s interior feels every bit worthy of the badge.

Inside, it sports sumptuous leather, layered wood veneers (or carbon fiber in the S model), and the first-ever automotive-grade merino wool. It uses the same curved-glass screen we saw in the Cayenne, but with Bentley’s own software.

One thing you won’t find in the Torcal? A passenger screen. Bentley Product Line Director Martin Page told media that while the idea was discussed during the car’s development, the team decided against it because "technology has to add value," and shouldn’t "dominate the experience." Good call.

I think the Bentley Torcal could be successful—for two main reasons.

First, Bentley buyers aren’t interested in the spec-sheet arms race. This is a brand that famously didn’t offer a horsepower rating for its 6.75-liter V8, only allowing that its power was “ample.” Yes, we live in a crazy world where 800-plus horsepower is no longer considered earth-shattering, but compared to the Cayenne Turbo Electric’s 1,139-hp figure and 2.4-second sprint, the Torcal’s figures feel downright reasonable.

With Lucid Sapphires and all manner of Chinese supercars boasting four-figure horsepower and zero-to-60 times under two seconds, the arms race is over. There’s no point in continuing to up the ante until we’re all just bulging eyeballs and crushed organs.

Second, Bentley’s positioning of the Torcal as a new entry point to its lineup to attract new buyers into the fold is a smart move. Expecting existing luxury customers to embrace an EV as a 1:1 replacement for an existing product, as Porsche has done with the electric Macan and Cayenne, has proven a tough pill to swallow. Opening up a new segment, however, is something else.

In showing us the new Torcal, Bentley took journalists around the Crewe, England, factory that it just recently modernized for EV production.

Here, in a building that once made British airplane engines during World War II, autonomous vehicles carry cars along an assembly line, raising and lowering to give workers easier access. Machines equipped with AI scanning technology examine leather hides for defects and map out the most efficient ways to cut interior pieces. And workers still put each piece together by hand.

The best-executed EVs from legacy automakers manage to hold onto their brands’ identities while incorporating the latest tech. The Renault 5 E-Tech and new BMW i3 come to mind, and while we haven’t driven it yet, I’d add the Torcal to that shortlist.

From what we’ve seen so far, it’s bold and advanced. It’s also unquestionably a Bentley—and that could help it succeed where other high-end EVs have faltered.

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