Bentley has finally built an electric car, and the company calls it its most powerful production vehicle. The Torcal, an ultraluxury compact crossover, will do the silent estate-to-country-club run faster than anything Crewe has made before. The catch: this is not the flagship, and Bentley now needs to find buyers willing to write $200,000-plus checks for a model that isn't even the top of its own range.
Two electric motors deliver a combined 876 horsepower in S trim, or 888 in metric ratings, along with 996 lb-ft of torque, four shy of the four-figure mark. Drop to the standard non-S and the numbers stay serious: 810 hp and 880 lb-ft.
The S runs zero to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds. That's quick enough to keep pace with a Corvette ZR1X while hauling five people in leather-lined comfort. There's no V8, but the Torcal will impersonate one. Bentley's Dynamic Symphony borrows the rhythm of its gas engines and layers in real instruments.
An 800-volt system pairs with a 113-kWh, 192-pouch battery, and Bentley claims 375 miles on the WLTP cycle. The pack is covered for a decade, stretching the usual eight-year coverage by two years.
Fully active suspension is a Bentley first here. Two-valve adaptive dampers raise or lower each corner instantly and independently, eliminating anti-roll bars, and all-wheel steering is standard. Iron brake discs are standard, with carbon ceramics optional.
At exactly five meters long, it's sized to Europe's urban parking limit. The frunk holds a stingy three cubic feet; the rear offers 16, still less than the Porsche Macan it shares a platform with.
Inside, Bentley says it's the first vehicle anywhere with 100% Merino wool fabric. There's also a fresh walnut veneer, each panel built from as many as a thousand off-cuts pressed together with recycled paper. Physical knobs survive. Seats offer 16-way adjustment with massage. Doors open and close via radar, and the SUV can remember a route to reverse itself to a passing place on single-track roads.
Bentley says the 2028 Torcal reaches American showrooms in early 2027, with pricing yet to be announced.
[Images: Bentley Motors]
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