Bentley Unveils The Torcal, Its First Electric Offering With Up To 873 HP

Bentley has officially revealed its first-ever electric vehicle (EV) in the form of the Torcal. The Torcal has been teased by the British ultra-luxury automaker for a couple of months now, and it represents what a Bentley is like when it ditches the big displacement engines in favor of electric motors.

Unsurprisingly, an electric Bentley doesn’t just place heavy emphasis on luxury. To be a Bentley, it also must be a luxury car that’s satisfyingly sporty to drive. This is reflected in its power figures. The standard Torcal, which comes with dual electric motors, produces 810 horsepower that’s good for a 0-100 kph time of 3.3 seconds. If you want even more speed, the 876-horsepower Torcal S drops the 0-100 kph time to just 2.8 seconds.

The Torcal rides on Volkswagen Group’s Premium Platform Electric (PPE), which is shared with the Cayenne Electric. This means an 800-volt architecture that supports up to 400 kW of DC fast charging, which is enough for a 10 to 80 percent charge of its 113-kWh battery in under 20 minutes. Speaking of which, this battery size is enough for the Torcal to have a 600-kilometer WLTP-rated range, though this is likely for the standard model and not the higher-performance S.

In keeping with Bentley’s focus on delivering a satisfyingly sporty yet cossetting drive, the Torcal features Bentley’s first use of fully active suspension with two-valve dampers. The fully active suspension balances both ride and handling, and the ride height is highly variable based on the drive mode. There’s also rear-wheel steering as standard, which reduces the turning radius to just 5.55 meters, whilst also improving its agility through the corners.

As standard, the Torcal gets conventional iron disc brakes, but if you have performance intentions with this vehicle, you can upgrade the brakes to Carbon Silicon Carbide (CSiC) ceramics, which will give you the largest front disc brakes ever fitted to any production vehicle, as it measures 440 mm.

Now, from a design standpoint, the Bentley Torcal will influence the brand’s design direction. You’ll immediately be greeted by its long hood with an upright fascia, wherein a rectangular enclosed grille features LED illumination to highlight its diamond pattern. The LED daytime running lights are razor-thin, which contrasts with the rectangular main LED lights. These details hark back to the Bentley Continental T, but reinterpreted for the modern era.

The long and upright front section blends with the wide and aggressive side profile, where pronounced shoulders give a hint of what the Torcal is capable of in terms of handling. Wheel sizes range from 21 inches for the standard Torcal, all the way to 22 inches for the sportier Torcal S.

Towards the rear of the Torcal, you will see a curvaceous roofline that tapers neatly to the rear fascia, which Bentley calls the ‘prestigious shield’, a design principle first explored with the EXP 15 concept car that served as a preview of the Torcal. The wide rear shoulders, which Bentley’s design team unofficially calls the ‘resting beast’, give the Torcal a very aggressive stance from behind.

And then as you move inside the Torcal, you’ll be greeted by an interior that features next-generation cabin tech for the Bentley brand. As with every Bentley, the dashboard architecture remains committed to the Bentley wings aesthetic. Every surface is covered in either leather, knurled metal with a diamond pattern, carbon fiber, or wood trim, while the gloss black surfaces are limited to just the bezels of the screens.

The next generation of Bentley’s infotainment tech is showcased through the OLED screens for the driver and the curved display for the main infotainment screen. If these features somehow give a sense of deja vu to you, that’s because the electronics architecture is shared with the Cayenne Electric, except for the passenger’s side display (which is a good thing to us). What isn’t shared with the Cayenne Electric are some of its uniquely Bentley features, such as the available 1,780-watt, 28-speaker Naim sound system that includes kinaesthetic seat shakers, front headrest speakers, and Dolby Atmos 7.1 surround sound.

Bentley hasn’t announced when the Torcal will go on sale, but it is likely that production will begin in 2027. A Philippine debut may also happen through PGA Cars around that time frame as well.