Bentley has announced a delay to the production of their first electric vehicle over fears that drivers are not keen enough to switch and criticised Labour’s plans for the 2030 car ban.
The manufacturer said it planned to introduce its first fully electric car towards the end of 2026 as opposed to original plans which would have seen one introduced next year.
Sales of hybrid vehicles, including Bentley’s Bentayga A, Azure and S models, have remained strong with the brand noting how demand mirrored that trend.
The classic British brand has confirmed that it will invest more than £2.5billion over eight years to 2030 in a bid to transition to fully electric car production.
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Bentley said interest in hybrid vehicles had remained strong
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Speaking earlier today, Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley, said: “There’s no question that BEVs are where we will all head.
“But we have seen a definite change, not just in the UK, but globally in respect of regulations and governments taking a different view on the rate of movements towards full EVs, as well as an uptick in acceptance and demand for hybrids,” The Telegraph reported.
In September last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a rollback of a number of key net zero pledges in a bid to protect Britons from being forced into making changes.
The headline change was his decision to delay the deadline of the petrol and diesel car and van ban from 2030 to 2035.
He said he was doing this to allow for a larger rollout of public electric car chargers, enable the upfront cost of EVs to fall and give drivers time to switch.
The Prime Minister said that it was important that drivers had the chance to transition to electric, rather than being forced to do so through Government legislation.
The move was criticised by Labour, who pledged to reinstate the ban from 2030 if they were to win the next general election, as supported by shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Many in the motoring industry also slammed the Government, saying that it had caused some consternation given that many brands have already pledged to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles.
Bentley chief Adrian Hallmark said: “There's an election coming in May or November. Labour has said it would reverse the Government's 2035 deadline.
“It would be a mistake going back from 2035 to 2030. It would create uncertainty,” MailOnline reported.
He added that it can take up to eight years to develop a new vehicle and since they have already changed plans once, Hallmark said it would be damaging to do it again.
Bentley confirmed that it had delivered its second-best financial performance on record to achieve an overall revenue figure of £2.5billion, selling 13,560 vehicles last year.
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Bentley will introduce its first electric car in 2026
BENTLEY
Operating profits reached £503million with three-quarters of customers exploring the 46 billion different configurations available from the options range – a rise of 43 per cent compared to 2022.