Bentley to launch its first EV – a sleek urban SUV – in 2026
Finally, Bentley says it has found the winning formula to giving an all-electric vehicle the Bentley stamp of approval. It’ll scream luxury and likely cost a bloody fortune.
The British ultra-luxury brand, owned by Volkswagen AG, is once again pushing back its target to exclusively offer BEVs by five years to 2035, but says it is launching a “luxury urban SUV” – its first all-electric vehicle – in 2026.
Back in 2018, Bentley started making the transition with its Bentayga Hybrid, and now the brand offers plug-in hybrid versions of the Continental GT and Flying spur.
Bentley, a brand synonymous with lavish and powerful cars with 12- and 8-cylinder engines that can cost in the millions for special editions, also said it plans to offer a new EV or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle each year until 2035 – the company had originally targeted the end of this decade for going all electric, but it has pushed that back by five years.
“To be honest, there is not a lot of demand [for BEVs] from today’s Bentley customers,” CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser said during a press conference yesterday, as reported by Reuters.
But he is not ruling out legislative changes and a new generation of consumers who want a sleek, expensive EV.
“But we see there are new customers out that definitely want to have a very modern car.”
“Legislation, for sure, is driving electrification … but also competition,” Walliser said.
He did add the caveat that the 2035 target could shift even more, as some global regions are electrifying more slowly. “Some parts of the world may be even slower than 2035,” he said. “We listen carefully to our customers… and what they want to buy.”
The company ended production of its famed W12 engine this year, and now it focuses on PHEVs with 8- or 6-cylinder engines. And it says it’ll keep making PHEVs “as long as markets and customers demand it,” said Matthias Rabe, head of Bentley’s research and development. He also noted that Bentley may continue to release new ICE vehicles in the years to come as well.
Bentley to launch its first all-electric vehicle in 2026
Bentley’s first BEV was initially expected to be produced starting next year. Former CEO Adrian Hallmark had said prior that the plans to launch a new EV had been delayed due to software issues as well as designing a vehicle to Bentley’s exacting standards, rather than market conditions.
The company only hinted at the shape of the new EV with a sketch, which shows a similar profile to the Bentayga SUV – for reference, the 2025 model of the Bentayga starts at around $208,000. But it’ll be more compact, Walliser noted, at under 5,000 mm (16.4 feet) in length, so similar in size to the Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q7, and it’ll be built on the same platform as the upcoming Porsche Cayenne EV.
While Bentley didn’t share any statistics about the new model, it did note that range and charging speed will be top priorities. And of course, customers can expect the Bentley signature craftsmanship that are essential to the brand: “We don’t want to make just any electric car; we want to make a Bentley,” said Walliser.
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LG Energy Solution to provide Rivian 4695 cylindrical batteries produced in the US for the R2
Battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution just announced that its Arizona subsidiary has signed a long-term supply agreement with US automaker Rivian for 4695 cylindrical batteries. The cells will be produced at LG Energy Solution Arizona’s new standalone US facility beginning next year and will power Rivian’s upcoming R2 BEVs.
LG Energy Solution (LGES) is a spinoff entity of LG Chem specializing in battery development and manufacturing. In the four short years since the entity was founded, the Korean company has established partnerships and supply agreements with OEMs worldwide and is currently one of the leaders in its respective market behind long-time frontrunner CATL.
When the Biden administration introduced the Inflation Reduction Act, which included tax incentives for BEVs and their batteries assembled on US soil, LGES was one the most popular battery manufacturers OEMs reached out to for joint ventures to set up localized cell manufacturing in North America.
Since then, we’ve seen facility plans announced between LGES and automakers like Hyundai Motor Group, Stellantis, Honda, and Ford, which recently decided to bring its operations stateside over from Europe. Toyota also has a supply agreement in place with LG Energy Solution.
In 2022, we covered the news that LG Energy Solution was investing $450 million to produce 4680 battery cells, a format pioneered by Tesla. The company has since developed taller, higher-capacity cells called 4695.
Today, the company announced a new deal for those 4695 cylindrical batteries, which will be produced in Arizona and delivered to Rivian for its R2 models.
Rivian R2 will be powered by LG Energy Solution batteries
LG Energy Solution shared details of its latest supply agreement this afternoon. The company has signed on to provide Rivian with its advanced 4695 cylindrical batteries for over five years, delivering a total energy capacity of 67 GWh during that time.
The “4695” nomenclature refers to the dimensions of the battery cells, which have a diameter of 46mm and a height of 95mm. LG Energy Solution explained that its 20 years of research and development in cylindrical batteries have gone into its next-generation 4695 cells for Rivian.
The battery specialist states that its larger cells will offer OEMs long-range and high safety while delivering over six times the capacity of the existing 2170 cylindrical cells popular in BEV battery modules today. LG Energy Solution CEO David Kim spoke about the company’s 4695 batteries and its robust supply agreement with Rivian:
Due to the dynamic nature of the current EV market, an increasing number of global automakers are demonstrating a strong preference for a diverse range of battery form factors. This large-scale order from Rivian for 4695 batteries marks a key milestone for LG Energy Solution in expanding its client base within the cylindrical battery segment.
Today, we also learned that the batteries for Rivian will eventually be manufactured at its pending facility in Arizona within the first year of production, then delivered to Rivian’s assembly plant in Normal, Illinois, where they will be implemented in R2 models sold in the North American market.
Construction of LGES’ Arizona facility is underway and expected to be completed and begin full-scale production in less than two years from now.
The Rivian R2 was unveiled this past March to much fanfare, and well over 100,000 pre-orders have since been placed. It will be assembled at the Normal, IL, facility and may eventually move to the American Automaker’s second manufacturing plant, which remains under construction in Georgia.
During its reveal, Rivian shared that it expects the R2 BEV to reach the market in the first half of 2026. If that timeline holds, it should be right around when LG Energy Solution begins producing batteries for those Rivian models in Arizona.
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Lucid Motors (LCID) announced it has enough funding for “well into 2026” after releasing third-quarter earnings. After its third straight quarter of record deliveries, Lucid will begin building its first electric SUV, the Gravity, later this year.
Lucid has funding for Gravity SUV launch and more
“Our momentum continues with our third consecutive quarter of record deliveries,” Lucid’s CEO Peter Rawlinson said after releasing the company’s Q3 2024 financial results.
After delivering another 2,781 vehicles in the third quarter, Lucid’s delivery total reached 7,142 through September. That’s more than the 6,001 Lucid delivered in 2023 already.
The higher deliveries led to top-line growth in the third quarter. Lucid posted $200 million in Q3 revenue, up from $137.8 million last year. Despite the higher delivery total, Lucid’s cost of revenue also fell to $412 million as the company continued driving down costs.
However, Lucid’s net loss rose to $992.5 million on the higher output, up from $630.9 million in Q3 2023.
Lucid ended the third quarter with about $5.16 billion in total liquidity. Its recent $1.75 billion capital raise “serves to further secure the future of the company by extending its financial runway well into 2026,” Rawlinson said.
After opening orders for its first electric SUV on Thursday, Lucid said Gravity production is still on track to start later this year. It has already begun pre-production builds.
Rawlinson calls the Gravity a “landmark product” starting at $79,800 with expected up to 440 miles range.
Lucid also teased its upcoming midsize electric SUV in September. Starting at under $50,000, the new model is expected to rival Tesla’s top-selling Model Y. A midsize electric sedan is also in the works and could compete with the Model 3.
Rawlinson previously said the new midsize models are aimed “right in the heart of Tesla Model 3, Model Y territory.” Lucid plans to begin production on the midsize platform in late 2026.
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