Report: Bentley plug-in hybrid in the works, SUV approval expected soon

Five years ago, the words “Bentley” and “hybrid” would only deign to coexist in a joke, not in a fact, but now it seems that Bentley will be rummaging their fingers around the VW/Audi/Porsche cookie jar for plug-in hybrid parts. According to Bentley chief Wolfgang Dürheimer, the menial bits and pieces making up a hybrid powertrain do not constitute a “matter of differentiation” and that either the new twin turbo four liter Audi V8 or VW’s W12 would fit in the engine bay of a future hybrid Bentley.

This idea of the VW brand developing the technology for Bentley is certainly not new, a prime example of this is the VW Phaeton, which, mechanically is the basis for the current Continental.

The word “future” is important here because Bentley say that they will not be rolling out a hybrid form of any current Bentley.

In the future, there may also be a Bentley SUV, which Dürheimer says is pending board approval and that the design process is in its advanced stages. He suggested that the news will be out in the next few weeks. Like their cars, Dürheimer said that the new SUV “will be no Hummer…but it will be on the large side.” Expect to see both the aforementioned W12 and V8 play important roles along with the hybrid powertrain.

– By: Sawyer Sutton

Source: CARandDRIVER