Bentley has a name for its first fully electric car: Torcal. The British marque confirmed this today, alongside a teaser image of the EV’s rear, promising a full reveal on September 23. Far more important than the name, however, is that this is Bentley’s first ever full electric car. Specs are thin on the ground until the official reveal, but Bentley is prepared to let slip that this 5-meter-long SUV will have a range of more than 300 miles.
The word Torcal was already on Bentley watchers’ radar. Earlier this year, trademark filings showed Bentley had registered both “Torcal” and “Barnato” in Europe and the UK, filed against motor vehicles including electric cars, charging cables, and charging stations. Barnato, a nod to 1920s Bentley obsessive and racing driver Woolf Barnato, was tipped as the front-runner. Bentley has gone the other way.
Like the Bentayga and other Bentleys before it, the Torcal name comes from a natural landmark, El Torcal de Antequera in Andalusia, Spain, a limestone landscape of stacked rock formations. Conveniently, Torcal also has auto connotations, as it is derived from the latin torquere, meaning to twist, which is where the word torque, describing rotational force, comes from.
First Look
WIRED was invited to a secret reveal of the Torcal, near Bentley’s headquarters in the UK. While much of the information handed out that day cannot be shared yet, I can say that this new electric SUV is similar to the Bentayga, in that the lineage between the two is obvious. The Torcal is slightly smaller, with the signature long hood and upright front. Bentley’s familiar rear haunches over the wheel arches feature as well, of course, but perhaps not as well resolved as on the Bentayga.
Still, it’s an attractive, powerful, and purposeful-looking SUV, with a switchable glass sunroof and new light clusters. You can see how different the rear lights are from the Bentayga in the tease image—going from the familiar oval shape to a clean line. However, unlike the Bentayga, the roofline at the rear drops down, which is now becoming commonplace in electric vehicle design as it means less drag, which increases range.
At the front, perhaps the most striking visual element of the Torcal is the new grille: Ventilation to a radiator is replaced by a solid wall of illuminated crystals with a design apparently influenced by the face of the Continental T. It’s a bold touch that is deliberately unsubtle, a far cry from the move toward quiet luxury.
Once inside, thanks to the all-round power doors, it’s pleasing to see that Bentley’s designers have got the message regarding switchgear. Buttons for important functions are mixed with OLED screens. The central display curves pleasingly downward in a similar manner to that of the new Cayenne. Interestingly, Bentley hasn’t followed other high-end manufacturers in offering a separate passenger screen, and I’m assured there won’t be an option for this.
The Graveyard Torcal Is Driving Into
Bentley chairman and chief executive Frank-Steffen Walliser calls Torcal “the most considered car” in Bentley’s history, and it’s going to have to be. Whatever the EV’s final specs, it arrives at possibly the worst moment to date to sell a premium electric car.
Lamborghini shelved its Lanzador electric GT this year after concluding, in the words of CEO Stephan Winkelmann, that demand among its buyers is “going almost to zero, if not to zero.” Ferrari’s first EV, the Luce, wiped billions off the company’s market value within hours of its reveal in Rome, and Ferrari has now pushed its second electric model back to 2028.
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