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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A fully electric Isuzu pickup truck? That’s right. The D-MAX EV is Isuzu’s first electric pickup, and it will be rolling in the next few months. After kicking off mass production, Isuzu said the new EV pickup will “match the performance of existing diesel models,” boasting high towing capacity and payload.
Isuzu’s first electric pickup is launching in 2025
Isuzu announced on Tuesday that the D-MAX EV has officially entered mass production. The company has started building left-hand drive models, which will be shipped to Europe in the third quarter of 2025.
By the end of the year, production of right-hand drive models will begin for the UK, with sales expected to start in 2026.
The electric pickup is nearly identical to Isuzu’s popular gas-powered D-MAX, but swaps the diesel powertrain for a pair of electric motors. The D-MAX EV features new e-Axles, one on the front and the other at the rear, for a full-time 4WD system.
The dual-motor powertrain enables it to match the performance of existing diesel models, with a combined 188 hp (140 kW) and a maximum torque of 240 lb-ft (325 Nm).
It can also tow over 7,700 lbs (3,500 kg) with a maximum payload of over 2,200 lbs (1,010 kg). That’s about the same as the D-MAX diesel, which has a 3,500 kg towing capacity and a payload capacity of up to 1,200 kg.
Powered by a 66.9 kWh battery, Isuzu’s first electric pickup boasts a driving range of up to 263 km (162 miles) on the WLTP. In the city, it can have a driving range of up to 224 miles (361 km).
| Isuzu D-Max EV specs | |
| Drive System | Full-time 4×4 |
| Battery Type | Lithium-ion |
| Battery Capacity | 66.9 kWh |
| Max Output | 130 kW (174 hp) |
| Max Torque | 325 Nm |
| Max Speed | Over 130 km/h (+80 mph) |
| Max Payload | 1,000 kg (+2,200 lbs) |
| Max Towing Capacity | 3.5t (+7,700 lbs) |
Built for on and off-road performance, the rugged electric pickup features over 8″ (210 mm) of ground clearance with a wading depth of nearly 24″ (600 mm).
Although prices have not been announced, the D-MAX EV is expected to start slightly higher than the diesel model, which has a base price of around € 36,500 ($41,600).
Isuzu’s popular D-MAX is sold in over 100 countries, including Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. The electric version will arrive in Europe in the next few months, followed by the UK and other regions in 2026.
The electric D-MAX will compete with the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and other electric pickups, such as Geely’s Radar R6, BYD’s Shark, and Ford’s F-150 Lightning.
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For the first time in five years, a Tesla insider required to report Tesla stock transactions bought stocks rather than selling them.
But the transaction is so small that it makes the whole situation hilarious.
Insiders in public companies are top executives and board members who are required to report to the SEC any transaction related to the company’s stock.
For Tesla, it has become a running joke that insiders only sell, never buy the stock.
This has been true without exception for years.
We don’t know as much about executives as Tesla has a very short top executive bench who are required to file transactions. However, when it comes to its board members, they have been selling at an impressive rate.
We recently reported on Kimball Musk, Elon’s brother, and Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Taneja Vaibhav recently selling ahead of a recent drop in the company’s stock price.
Tesla’s chairwoman, Robyn Denholm, also sold $33 million worth of Tesla shares in February and over $100 million in the 3 months prior.
However, we now have confirmation that a Tesla board member is buying, rather than selling.
Joe Gebbia, the Airbnb co-founder who joined Tesla’s board in 2022, confirmed that he bought 4,000 shares in Tesla last week worth about $1 million:
Electrek’s Take
Gebbia is estimated to be worth over $7 billion. Therefore, his purchase of $1 million worth of Tesla stock would be equivalent to my buying a fractional share in Tesla.
Furthermore, the disclosure confirmed that despite being on the board for the last 3 years, Gebbia owned only 111 shares in Tesla before the transaction.
That’s quite the show of confidence in Tesla.
Thie whole situation with the board is disappointing. Tesla’s core business is melting. The company reported its worst quarter in years last week, and the stock surged 20%.
None of it makes any sense.
The board is sitting on its hands while the most powerful force accelerating the advent of electric transport is being destroyed in favor of nonsensical predictions about the potential of solving self-driving and humanoid robots.
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Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Venmo, long a centerpiece of PayPal‘s growth story but often criticized for its lack of monetization, is becoming a bigger contributor to the business.
PayPal said Tuesday in its first-quarter earnings release that revenue at Venmo increased 20% year-over-year in the first quarter, though the company didn’t provide a dollar figure. PayPal acquired Venmo in 2013 through the acquisition of parent company Braintree.
While it’s long been a popular consumer service for sending money to friends, Venmo’s ability to drive meaningful revenue has been a major question mark for investors, especially as competition from rivals like Zelle and Square Cash has intensified.
Venmo’s total payment volume rose 10% from a year earlier, but revenue grew twice as fast, reflecting the business opportunity. Venmo only gets revenue from specific products like Pay with Venmo at online checkout, Venmo debit cards, and instant transfers, but not from peer-to-peer payments.
Ahead of the earnings report, Jefferies analysts noted that Venmo revenue growth appeared to be “accelerating sharply” and flagged its rising contribution to branded checkout as a key area to watch. Compass Point analysts similarly said that while competition from Zelle and Square Cash remains fierce, Venmo’s traction with debit cards and online checkout could “open up new monetization avenues” if adoption trends continue.
The company added nearly 2 million first-time PayPal and Venmo debit card users during the quarter, and total debit card payment volume across PayPal and Venmo climbed more than 60%. Meanwhile, Pay with Venmo transaction volume surged 50% year over year, and Venmo debit card monthly active users grew about 40%.
PayPal reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter but missed on revenue. The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
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