Move Over Roadster, New Electric Bentley Will 0-60 In 1.5 Seconds!

May 25, 20222 years ago Jo Borras 0 Comments

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Tesla claims its long-delayed Roadster 2.0 will be able to blast its way from 0-60 mph in 1.9 seconds. That’s fast— like, tuned Nissan GTR fast. People will always want more, though, as evidenced by the fact that Tesla claims it’s working on a laughable rocket-assist system to get the Roadster closer to 1.1 seconds … and by the fact that Bentley’s CEO just told everyone their new electric luxo-cruiser will do the same in just 1.5 seconds.

That’s 1.5 sec., without some phony-baloney rocket-assist. And that, dear friends, is moving!

Divining The Next Continental

Bentley CEO, Adrian Hallmark told Automotive News in London that the upcoming electric Bentley— the brand’s first “pure” battery-electric model— would deliver “effortless overtaking” before dropping the big news: that the new car was capable of 0-60 mph runs in less than two-point-Oh! seconds.

“Most people enjoy the 30 to 70 mph acceleration … if we are 650 HP now with GT Speed, we will be double that with the BEV,” offered Hallmark— who was quick to point out that there was much more to the new model than brutal acceleration. “(From) a 0 to 60 mph point of view there are diminishing returns … the thrill of 2.4 seconds to 60 mph is great about 10 times. Then it just becomes nauseous.”

Which— fair enough. Having driven a lot of fast things fast and even more fast things stuck behind a late-model Subaru with the cruise control set to just under the speed limit, believe me when I tell you that it’s more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow.

No details about the styling of the new electric Bentley have emerged, officially, but we can guess! The new-for-2025 B will be the successor to the long-running Continental model that’s been in production since 2002. Granted, that car pretty much saved Bentley from oblivion after the turn-of-the-century split with Rolls-Royce nearly sank it. As such, it’s believed that the new car will follow similar proportions— sort of like the design language of the EXP 100 GT, shown here.

We’ve covered this car before, back when it was used as a showcase to announce that the upcoming electric Bentleys would be following in Toyota’s footsteps by skipping the rare-Earth elements. Take a look at that concept car, below, then let us know how you feel about the VW Group and its new, ultimate electric Conti coupe in the comments section at the bottom of the page.