Bentley Unveils First Electric Car After £350m Factory Overhaul

Bentley has unveiled its first fully electric car after investing £350m to upgrade its factory in Cheshire. The Torcal SUV will be built on a brand-new production line at the Crewe site, which has served as the luxury carmaker's headquarters since 1946.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the investment would "support 4,000 high-value local jobs in Crewe". The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade said the Torcal would strengthen automotive supply chains, as Bentley is supplied by more than 700 businesses, including 82 within a 50-mile radius of its base.

The announcement lands at a difficult moment for the UK motor industry. JLR recently announced large-scale job cuts, and manufacturers are searching for new avenues to grow their businesses. Despite a stream of new electric model announcements intended to future-proof the industry, there have been calls to slow the switch to a fully EV future.

The Torcal's numbers position it at the top of Bentley's range. The company said its 113kWh battery delivers a range of up to 375 miles (600km), and that the car can charge from 10% to 80% in less than 20 minutes using a 400kW charger.

The Torcal S model will be Bentley's most powerful car yet, with a top speed of 162mph. It is also the fastest-accelerating car in the company's history, reaching 60mph in 2.8 seconds. The standard Torcal model can travel at up to 155mph and takes 3.3 seconds to accelerate to 60mph.

Dr Frank-Steffen Walliser, Bentley's chairman and chief executive, called the Torcal "one of the best Bentleys ever" and said it had been designed to combine luxury with electric technology.

"The Torcal is a Bentley first and foremost, created by hand by people who care, using the best available materials and technology to blend heritage with cutting-edge innovation," he said.

The new production line sits inside one of the Crewe site's original factory buildings, which dates from 1938. The building previously housed the company's machining shop and later its research and development workshop. It has been stripped out and fitted with a new floor designed to allow autonomous guided vehicles to move cars through the production process.

Reynolds framed Bentley's £350m investment as part of a broader run of good news for British manufacturing. He described it as "the third win in just seven days" for Britain's automotive industry, following £500m announced by McLaren and £170m from Nissan.

The government said it is investing £7.5bn to support the transition to electric vehicles, with plans to phase out new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. Bentley's bet is that hand-built luxury and electric drivetrains can coexist in Crewe — and that its 700-strong supplier network grows along with it.