Bentley has finally gone electric, with the smaller, sharper (and cheaper) Torcal SUV trading the W12 for wool, walnut and 888 PS. Here’s what you need to know.
Bentley has spent the best part of a decade promising an electric car and then quietly moving the deadline. That era is over. The Torcal has made its global debut in the form of a slick SUV that delivers up to 888 PS, a 113 kWh battery and a inpressive range of 600 km. It’s also, somewhat unexpectedly, the entry point to the brand, with its price tag of US$230,000 making it the least expensive Bentley on sale.
A Bentley, Shrunk (Slightly)
The Torcal, designed and built in Crewe in the United Kingdom, becomes Bentley’s fourth model line, next to the Continental GT, Flying Spur and Bentayga. “Urban SUV” was the phrase Bentley used for years in the lead up to the launch, and it’s a relative term. At five metres long, the Torcal is the shortest four-door Bentley, yet it still has a 460-litre boot and a 90-litre front trunk, more than enough room for a weekend’s luggage and a case of something worth sipping.
Robin Page’s design team gave the new arrival a long wheelbase, short overhangs and a new illuminated diamond grille borrowed from the Continental GT. It’s also the first Bentley to carry the brand’s redesigned emblem.
The name follows Bentley’s habit of naming cars after landscapes and has been taken from El Torcal de Antequera, a limestone wilderness in Andalusia, and shares a root with the word “torque.” Subtle it isn’t, but a car with nearly 1,000 lb-ft has earned the pun.Â
The Numbers
There are two versions. The standard Torcal makes 821 PS and 1,194 Nm, reaching 100 km/ph in 3.3 seconds. The Torcal S raises that to 888 PS and 1,350 Nm with Launch Control, cutting the sprint to 2.8 seconds and topping out at 260 km/ph, just what tyou need for those last minute school runs.
The interesting detail is the restraint. Former CEO Adrian Hallmark promised 1,400 hp and a 1.5-second 0-100 time back in 2022. Bentley says it deliberately capped acceleration because most of its customers find anything more extreme uncomfortable. This is a brand that knows its buyer wants to arrive in style, not to be pinned to the headrest.Â
Under the skin sits Volkswagen Group hardware. The Torcal rides on the Premium Platform Electric and is closely related to the Porsche Cayenne Electric. It runs an 800V system with a quoted 400 kW peak, which Bentley says takes the battery from 10 to 80 percent in just 16 minutes – that’s one espresso at a service station, not a long lunch.Â
How It Drives, and How It Sounds
This is the first Bentley with fully active suspension. Each corner can rise or fall independently, so there are no anti-roll bars at all. All-wheel steering is standard and brings the turning circle down to 11.1 metres, which is handy since tight parking in Tsim Sha Tsui or Tiong Bahru is where big SUVs usually lose their dignity.Â
Then there’s the sound. Bentley recorded real musicians on drums, viola and bass guitar, taking cues from the rhythm of its 6.75-litre V8, to create what it calls the Bentley Dynamic Symphony. It rises with torque and speed, and you can switch it off. Purists will scoff and we expect most owners will leave it on for the first week and quietly turn it off by the second.Â
A Regal Retreat
Bentley’s pitch for the Torcal is that the thing Chinese luxury EVs can’t copy is a century of taste. The brand believes its heritage is the difference that can’t be written onto a spec sheet, as Chinese makers push technology-heavy luxury at lower prices. The interior is where that argument has to hold up.Â
The cabin debuts what Bentley calls the world’s first 100 percent Merino wool automotive fabric, developed with Somerset weaver Fox Brothers. It also brings a new Ombré Walnut veneer made from walnut off-cuts and recycled paper. Of course, there’s tech too. You get curved OLED screens, an augmented-reality head-up display, facial recognition to load driver profiles, and four powered doors that open and close themselves. YOu can supplement this with an optional 28-speaker, 1,780W Naim surround sound system.
Most importantly, Bentley has kept physical controls on the centre console and steering wheel. Someone in Crewe has clearly tried adjusting the heating through a touchscreen at 120 km/h.
The Verdict (For Now)
The timing is bold. Bentley is launching an EV while luxury rivals pull back on electrification in the face of pressure from Chinese brands, and its starting price sits far below Ferrari’s Luce at €550,000 (US$624,000). CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser has called the Torcal possibly “the most considered car in our history.”Â
It isn’t the hypercar-fast EV Bentley once promised. It’s something more useful: a quick, compact and beautifully trimmed electric Bentley that actually fits in the crowded, space-starved cities of Asia. Whoever thought Bentley would make something so practical?
