Meet Bentley’s First Electric Car: The EXP 15 is Here!
This is a vision of Bentley’s first ever allect electric car. An elevated sporting sedan with three seats and a design that draws on the company’s rich heritage of grand tours. This is the EXP15. It’s a high- riding crossover that gives us a glimpse as to what future Bentleys will look like. As saloons like the Mosan fall out of favor and SUVs like the Bentega gain in popularity, cars with these proportions and EV power trains are likely to play a much bigger role in the luxury space. The EXP15 is inspired by a mythical Bentley Speed 6 coupe wearing a three-seater body by Gurnie Nutting. It was nicknamed Blue Train after its custodian, Bentley chairman Wolf Bonato, raced against a locomotive, the famous Lewan Blur from Canving in London before the train even reached Calala. An admirable feat in an admirable car which has given birth to the EXP15. [Music] Some design highlights. Well, even though it’s an electric car and it doesn’t need a grill to cool an internal combustion engine, it still has a front grill. Partly to remain faithful to what we’ve seen from previous Bentley design, and partly to serve as a piece of digital artwork. Look closely and you’ll see these kind of triangle sections just here, back lit of course, and those are actually designed to mimic the diamond quilting that you find on current Bentley interiors. We’ve also got a central stripe, back lit, of course, which mimics the design of the vertical headlights. At the top of the grill, we have a brand new Bentley wing badge. Now, these will make their debut on future Bentleys going forward. And Bentley say that where the previous badge had the wings of an owl, these have the wings of a Falcon. On the top, we have a new flying BGE. Again, this will deploy automatically when you lock and unlock the car or at the press of a button inside the vehicle. And this is much less anatomically correct with fewer feathers and it looks far more contemporary than the previous design. As for the bonnet, very long in typical Bentley fashion, but take a closer look and there are some new details. These are leather straps, but they have a purpose. They actually serve as part of the opening mechanism for a pair of piano hinged doors that give you access to what could be the mother of all front boots. Very clever. and I don’t think I’ve ever seen leather on the exterior of a car before. In profile, the EXP15 has a very cab rearward design where the cabin sits more towards the back of the vehicle than the front. It’s predominantly monolithic with smooth upright panels taking up 2/3 of the surface to 1/3 taken up by the cabin. In this area, you’ll find a backlit side vent, ultra skinny cameras that serve as door mirrors, and huge aeroop optimized alloy wheels. The EXP-15 also has what Bentley referred to as a resting beast stance, where the rear hunches bulge outward like the rounded shape of the bent upper legs of a big cat preparing to pounce on its prey, but perfectly horizontal, not leaning forward aggressively or leaning back looking lazy. At the back of the EXP15, it’s all about large, clean surfaces, plus these enormous rear lights. And then at the center, the new Bentley Badge. Underneath you get a huge diffuser and interestingly up top, two active spoilers. Bentley also promises the addition of two deployable picnic seats which allow you to open the boot and enjoy alfresco dining with your EXP15. Here’s something else that’s interesting. This car has three doors. So, on the driver’s side, there’s only one door for the driver, but on the passenger side, there are two plus no B-pillar. And you know what that means? The rear door opens like a suicide door, and the front door is hinged normally and opens conventionally. Then you look inside and you realize there are also only three seats. One for the driver and then two at the rear with a space next to the driver for your luggage or an optional dog box for your furry friend. If you choose not to carry a dog, that rear seat can actually slide forward and become the front seat. Or as a driver, if you get fed up with your passenger, you can actually move them back to the rearmost position. Interestingly, this rear seat can actually rotate to allow you to more easily get in and out of the car. The interior isn’t quite complete yet, so we can’t show you too much of that, except to say that it was designed using virtual reality software and mixes Bentley staples such as luxury seating, exclusive materials, and a wing-shaped dashboard, plus a sprinkling of digital displays that can be adjusted depending on driver mood. Likewise, there’s not much to be said of the car’s drivetrain or performance, except of course that it will be all electric, and its design will inspire Bentley’s first production electric car, due to be revealed as early as 2026. Will it look anything like this? We’ll have to wait and see, but what’s clear is that the EXP15 isn’t really a car. It’s more a message that luxury can be reimagined, that performance doesn’t have to shout, that silence can be aspirational, and more importantly, Bentley can and will evolve. [Music] [Music] [Music]
The EXP 15 is a concept that showcases what future, electric Bentleys will look like. It’s more than just an EV, it’s a statement of intent, in nspired by Le Train Bleu – the legendary luxury train that once connected Paris to the French Riviera.
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