Bentley to Introduce an Electric Sports Car in 2019

Bentley’s first electric vehicle will be a sportscar that could arrive as early as 2019.

The British luxury automaker made it known it was interested in EVs when it debuted the EXP 12 Speed 6e concept at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. It’s already said a production version of that car won’t arrive, but according to Autocar, a similar product is being looked at by top Bentley brass.

The Bentley EV may utilize VW Group’s ‘J1’ platform that will debut in the production version of the Porsche Mission E sedan. The Mission E has a claimed 0-62 mph time of just 3.5 seconds and a theoretical range of around 310 miles. Like the Bentley, the production version of Porsche’s Tesla Model S competitor is expected to arrive in 2019.

But whereas the Mission E will be a sports sedan that will look to take the fight to the fastest version of the Model S, the Bentley will be an EV grand tourer. Details on the EXP 12 Speed 6e’s powertrain were never released, but it had an estimated range of around 300 miles, along with all-wheel drive. The brand told Car & Driver “an electric Bentley would, for example, be able to drive between Milan and Monaco on a single charge,” which is a distance of just under 200 miles.

[Source: Autocar]

This article first appeared on AutoGuide

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