First Bentley EV on its way with £2.5bn investment into ‘Dream Factory’

Bentley has announced plans to manufacture its very first EV in the UK as part of a £2.5 billion in sustainability over the next ten years.

The first BEV is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2025, marking a critical step in the company’s Beyond100 strategy – the plan launched in 2020 that will ensure Bentley is exclusively electric and end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030. The announcement also helps secure Bentley’s first step into electrification at the production plant, where all Bentley models are built and 4,000 colleagues work.

The significant investment programme will also result in a complete transformation of Bentley’s entire product portfolio, and the historic Crewe Campus by embedding an industry-leading greenfield facility into a world-leading, next generation digital, low environmental impact, high-value advanced manufacturing facility.

The so-called ‘Dream Factory’ will see the manufacturer’s plant in Crewe transformed, as Bentley targets a ‘Go-to-zero approach’ on manufacturing with the aim of reducing the environmental impact to a minimum for every vehicle built in Crewe.

Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: “Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley’s illustrious history, and in the luxury segment. It’s an ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business system, including the shift to 100 per cent BEV in just eight years.

“Our aim is to become the benchmark not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials but the entire scope of our operations. Securing production of our first BEV in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley, and the UK, as we plan for a long-term sustainable future in Crewe.”

Announced in 2020, Bentley’s ‘Beyond100’ strategy puts electrification at the heart of the company’s future, with plans to offer an electrified hybrid version of every model by 2024, with its first battery electric vehicle to be released in 2024.

It also plans to offer exclusively plug-in hybrid or battery electric vehicles by 2026, and only battery electric vehicles by 2030.

Peter Bosch, Board Member for Manufacturing at Bentley Motors, added: “Today is arguably the most important day in Bentley’s modern history, and is a testament to the hard work and skill of our colleagues in Crewe. The journey really does start now. We are already marking the pinnacle in luxury car production and have already transformed our factory to become carbon neutral, with industry-leading environmental credentials.

“With our new ‘Dream Factory’ concept, we now go to zero also with water, waste and other environmental impacts until 2030. Unique craftsmanship, customer interaction and employee experience will be enhanced by digital tech, higher flexibility and new ways of personalisation. We will develop the best of Crewe into the future benchmark of luxury car manufacturing.”