Bentley to switch its lineup to fully-electric vehicles, ultra-luxury cars to go electric

Bentley Motors Ltd. will stop producing its roaring 12-cylinder combustion engines that shaped much of the British luxury-car maker's 100-year history. The luxury car brand is now focusing on electric vehicles, the latest seismic automotive shift driven by stricter emissions rules. Bentley will offer only hybrid and electric cars by 2026 and switch its entire lineup to fully-electric vehicles four years later. The Crewe, England-based manufacturer said Thursday in a statement.

"The company will become a new, sustainable, wholly ethical role model for luxury. As a luxury brand, our customers are more likely to have a home where they can charge a vehicle, an office where they can charge a vehicle, their favorite spots to go where they can charge a vehicle, and other cars, so they don't have to rely on electric vehicles if it doesn't quite meet their routine needs," Chief Executive Officer of Bentley Adrian Hallmark said.

For starters, Bentley will offer two plug-in hybrid models next year, the Bentayga Hybrid and the all-new Flying Spur Hybrid, according to Hallmark in a subsequent interview. The company had already announced that every model line would offer a hybrid version by 2023. The company's first fully-electric model will be introduced in 2025; everything will be developed in-house. The brand wants to make its operations carbon-neutral by 2030.