Bentley Torcal teased as the marque’s first electric car

Bentley’s debut EV arrives later this year as a large luxury SUV with more than 300 miles of range, and we’ve had an early look

Torcal. It comes from the Latin ‘torquere’, meaning to twist, the same root that gives us the modern word ‘torque’. It is also the name of Bentley’s first all-electric car, which feels rather fitting for a marque whose past and present have never left drivers short of pulling power. According to the official Bentley newsroom, the name also nods to El Torcal de Antequera, the dramatic limestone landscape in Andalusia, Spain.

You will need to wait until the full reveal on 23 September 2026 to see the Torcal in the metal, but we can confirm it is a five-metre-long electric SUV that joins the Continental GT, Flying Spur and Bentayga in the Crewe marque’s line-up. For now, there is the teaser image accompanying this story.

The Torcal completes a three-pronged powertrain strategy for Bentley, sitting alongside the plug-in hybrid V8s in the Continental GT and Flying Spur and the pure combustion engines reserved for specials such as the Supersports. It builds on the design direction previewed by the EXP 15 concept, which gave the first glimpse of Bentley’s all-electric vision last year.

While Bentley is keeping the technical specification under wraps until September, it has confirmed the Torcal will offer a driving range in excess of 300 miles. Reports, including Robb Report’s coverage of the name announcement, suggest it will also be capable of adding 100 miles of range in around seven minutes. What we can tell you is what it looks like, even if you cannot yet see what we are describing. Such are modern embargo strategies.

The Torcal is a striking piece of design. Not shocking in the manner of Ferrari’s Elettrica-era experiments, but a confident language that blends traditional Bentley cues, think of the Continental R and T of the late Eighties and Nineties, or the Brooklands of the early Noughties, into a reassuring guide to the future of Bentley design. Cast your mind back to the EXP 15 concept and the front of that car provides a strong idea of what to expect.

Advertisement

This is a square-edged, broad-shouldered Bentley. Its surfaces feature tight, crisp creases like an immaculately pressed shirt, and the detailing is considered and fuss-free. The illuminated front grille will not be for everyone, though mercifully it can be switched off. There is real confidence to the stance too. The Torcal sits low to the ground for an SUV, with a lower-than-expected roofline, and its four-square footprint creates an optical illusion that shrinks the car around itself.

That squares with what Bentley bosses have promised from the start: a segment-defining ‘luxury urban SUV’ rather than a conventional two-tonne-plus battery barge.

Inside, the Torcal is pure Tardis, with space to put an extended-wheelbase Bentayga to shame. That packaging freedom has allowed the interior designers to deliver comfort on a quite remarkable level. Digital interfaces blend with traditional Bentley craftsmanship, considered not only in how passengers will interact with them but in what owners actually expect from a car’s human interface. Haptic controls and jewelled switchgear share the cabin with seamless elegance.

The proof will come in the driving, or indeed the being driven. But even sitting in a validation prototype parked in a design studio, Bentley’s first step into full electrification feels more authentic than many rivals attempting the same journey.

You will be able to decide for yourself in September.