Bentley's first EV will have 1,400hp and reach 60mph in about 1.5 seconds

Bentley is hoping to launch their first electric vehicle (EV) in 2025, the first step along their path in becoming an all-electric automaker by 2030. According to CEO Adrian Hallmark, that first EV will offer up to 1,400 horsepower and be able to reach 60mph in about 1.5 seconds.

If Bentley is able to deliver on those figures it would handily beat the current 0-60 record set the Model S Plaid. But Hallmark says that acceleration won’t be the main selling point of the first Bentley EV since at those levels it becomes meaningless and is more than most people can physically handle.

“If we’re 650 hp now with GT Speed, we will be double that with the BEV. But from a 0 to 60 mph point of view there are diminishing returns. The problem is, it’s uncomfortable. And then it just becomes nauseous,” Hallmark said in an interview with Automotive News Europe.

To help deal with that problem the high performance will be optional, with owners being able to slow down the 0-60mph time to a more comfortable 2.7 seconds.

Instead of acceleration Hallmark wants to focus on the “effortless overtaking performance” of the EV, something which he thinks will be more appealing to buyers.

“For us it would not be the brutality of acceleration that can define us,” but instead the EVs “effortless overtaking performance from a huge amount of torque on demand. Most people enjoy the 30-70 mph acceleration, or in Germany 30-150 mph.

When it does arrive, the Bentley EV won’t be cheap. According to Hallmark, it will be priced in the range of the now discontinued Mulsanne, which sold for over €250,000 ($338,000 CAD).

Bentley is planning to spend $3.4 billion to go fully electric by 2030. The luxury automaker will spend the investment in research and development, and retool and update their plant in Crewe, England, where this first Bentley EV will be built.