All posts by Francis Mitterrand

News

Bentley Hits Pause on EV Dreams, Doubles Down on Hybrid Bentayga for 2028

There was a time—not long ago—when Bentley seemed ready to sprint headlong into an all-electric future. Five EVs by 2030, a battery-powered successor to the Bentayga, and a clean break from combustion. That plan, like so many ambitious electrification roadmaps, has now met reality. The new strategy? Slow down, recalibrate, and double down on plug-in hybrids.

At the center of that rethink sits the next-generation Bentley Bentayga, due in 2028. It won’t be the EV standard-bearer once envisioned. Instead, it will lead a new wave of Bentley plug-in hybrids—less a revolution, more a carefully judged evolution.

A Reality Check from Stuttgart

Bentley’s pivot isn’t happening in isolation. Parent group dynamics—and more specifically, delays at Porsche—have forced a rewrite. The much-anticipated SSP-based electric architecture, originally destined to underpin the Bentayga EV, has been pushed into the next decade at significant cost. That left Bentley with a choice: wait, or adapt.

Adapt it is.

Rather than sit on its hands, Bentley is shifting the next Bentayga onto the PPC platform—the same bones set to underpin the next Porsche Cayenne and future large Audi Q9. It’s a platform built for flexibility, capable of housing everything from straight-up combustion engines to next-gen plug-in hybrid systems.

The Bridge to Electric—Whether You Like It or Not

Bentley CEO Frank-Steffen Walliser isn’t shy about the reasoning. The demand for high-end EVs hasn’t quite matched the industry’s early optimism, and forcing customers into full electrification risks alienating a loyal base.

That base, crucially, loves the Bentayga. It’s been the brand’s best-seller since its 2015 debut, accounting for roughly half of all sales. In other words, you don’t mess with a winning formula—you refine it.

So the next Bentayga will lean heavily on a new-generation plug-in hybrid setup, likely centered around a 3.0-liter V6. Expect power outputs in the same ballpark as today’s 456 horsepower, but with a meaningful upgrade in electric-only range over the current car’s modest 30 miles. New battery tech and updated electronics should push it into genuinely usable EV territory—finally.

Not Quite Done with Gasoline

For all the electrified talk, Bentley isn’t quite ready to close the book on internal combustion. Select markets—particularly the U.S.—will continue to see pure gasoline variants, likely including V8-powered models. Limited-run specials could even sneak through in stricter regions, depending on legislation.

It’s a pragmatic approach, if not a romantic one. The days of unfiltered, twelve-cylinder excess may be numbered, but Bentley isn’t about to abandon its heritage overnight.

Design: Concept to Reality

Visually, the new Bentayga will take cues from the EXP 15 concept, signaling a subtle but meaningful shift in Bentley’s design language. Expect sharper surfacing, more pronounced lighting signatures, and a closer visual relationship to the upcoming “Urban SUV”—a smaller, electric-leaning model aimed squarely at rivals like the Cayenne Electric and Lotus Eletre.

Underneath, the new architecture brings more than just powertrain flexibility. Advanced air suspension with active ride control, the latest driver-assistance systems, and continued support for the Extended Wheelbase variant—all but guaranteed to remain a favorite among chauffeur-driven buyers—will ensure the Bentayga stays at the sharp end of the luxury SUV class.

The EV Isn’t Dead—Just Delayed

Bentley’s first EV, the so-called “Luxury Urban EV,” is still very much on track, with a reveal expected later this year and deliveries beginning in 2027. But if you’re waiting for a fully electric Bentayga equivalent, you’ll need patience—it won’t arrive until after 2030.

And when it does, it’ll likely pack serious firepower. Sharing PPE architecture with electric Porsche models, outputs north of 1000 horsepower aren’t off the table. Range figures approaching 400 miles? Also likely.

The Big Picture

What Bentley is doing here isn’t retreat—it’s recalibration. The brand is betting that plug-in hybrids, not full EVs, are the right answer for the next decade. It’s a hedge against uncertain demand, evolving legislation, and the simple reality that even ultra-luxury buyers aren’t all ready to go fully electric.

The next Bentayga, then, won’t be a revolution. But it might be something more important: exactly what the market is willing to buy.

Source: Autocar

News

The Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special Arrives

There’s something slightly rebellious about taking one of Ford Mustang’s most nostalgia-soaked badges and pasting it onto an all-electric crossover. But then again, rebellion has always been part of the Mustang brief. Now, with the arrival of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special, Ford Motor Company leans even harder into that contradiction—and somehow makes it work.

The California Special name dates back to 1968, when West Coast dealers gave the original Mustang a sun-kissed identity to match its booming sales in the Golden State. This time around, the vibe is less carburetors and chrome, more kilowatts and code—but the spirit remains intact. Think Pacific Coast Highway, just with fewer gas stops and more charging stations.

Visually, the GT/CS does just enough to stand out without screaming about it. The 20-inch Carbonised Grey wheels wear subtle GT/CS logos, while badges outlined in a new Rave Blue hue add a cool-toned contrast. The real centerpiece, though, is the hood stripe—a layered mix of grey, black, and blue, radiating outward like a stylized sunset melting into the ocean. It’s thematic, sure, but not overcooked.

Inside, Ford avoids the trap of trying to make “electric” feel sterile. Instead, the cabin leans into texture and tone. Performance seats trimmed in Navy Pier ActiveX and Miko material strike a balance between premium feel and real-world durability—this is synthetic upholstery that’s designed to be lived in, not tiptoed around. A reflective blue and silver stripe runs through the seats, while the same navy material wraps the steering wheel and center console, tying the look together in a way that feels cohesive rather than gimmicky.

Underneath the styling exercise, the broader Mach-E lineup gets meaningful tweaks. Premium Extended Range models now squeeze out a bit more efficiency thanks to lower rolling resistance tires, stretching range figures to as much as 555 km for all-wheel-drive versions and 615 km for rear-drive variants. It’s not a revolution, but in the EV world, incremental gains matter.

Safety tech also gets a boost. Ford’s Clear Exit Assist—essentially a digital lookout for cyclists, scooters, and unsuspecting pedestrians—joins the standard ADAS suite. It’s the kind of feature that sounds minor until it saves you from an awkward insurance claim or worse. Alongside it sits the usual alphabet soup of modern driver aids: adaptive cruise control, pre-collision assist, blind-spot monitoring, and evasive steering support.

And then there’s Ford BlueCruise, the company’s hands-off, eyes-on highway driving system. Already a standout in the Mach-E, it continues to expand across Ford’s European lineup, hinting at a future where long-distance driving becomes less about effort and more about supervision.

Two new paint options—Race Red and the intriguingly named Adriatic Blue-Green—round out the updates, offering buyers a chance to either shout or subtly flex.

The Mach-E was always a controversial addition to the Mustang family, but editions like the GT California Special suggest Ford isn’t interested in playing it safe. Instead, it’s doubling down on the idea that heritage isn’t about clinging to the past—it’s about reinterpreting it. And if that reinterpretation happens to come with instant torque and a West Coast color palette, well, there are worse ways to evolve an icon.

Source: Ford

Story

Inside the Lamborghini Ownership Experience

At some point—usually long before there’s a driver’s license involved—the poster goes up. A low, wedge-shaped missile from Lamborghini, frozen mid-scream on a bedroom wall. For many, that’s where the story begins. But in Sant’Agata Bolognese, the people who build these cars would argue that’s only the prologue. The real narrative starts when the dream stops being abstract and becomes an order form, a color swatch, a stitched seam.

Because buying a Lamborghini isn’t a transaction. It’s theater.

The Atelier Where Horsepower Meets Haute Couture

The first act unfolds inside Lamborghini’s Ad Personam studio, a place that feels less like a dealership and more like a Milan fashion house that happens to deal in carbon fiber. Here, customers don’t just pick options—they curate identity. Over 400 exterior hues sit on the palette, alongside hides, Alcantara, forged composites, and finishes that sound like they were named by an art critic on espresso number four.

This is where the brand’s obsession with individuality crystallizes. It’s also where the numbers get interesting: roughly 94 percent of Lamborghinis leave the factory with at least one bespoke element. That’s not a stat—it’s a manifesto. In an era of algorithmic sameness, Lamborghini is selling the opposite: specificity.

And when the configurator finally renders the finished car—your car—it’s less like placing an order and more like seeing a thought become tangible. The machine hasn’t been built yet, but the connection already exists.

The Waiting Game That Isn’t

Then comes the part that would drive most buyers mad: waiting. About 18 months, give or take, from spec sheet to ignition.

Except Lamborghini has figured out how to make anticipation part of the product. Through its Unica app, owners track their car’s progress, dip into brand content, and stay tethered to the process. It’s clever. You’re not just waiting—you’re participating.

Better yet, some customers make the pilgrimage to Sant’Agata Bolognese itself. Walking the factory floor, you see the juxtaposition that defines modern Lamborghini: old-world craftsmanship stitched into bleeding-edge manufacturing. Hands and robots, leather and lasers, all conspiring to build something outrageous.

It’s equal parts engineering lesson and origin story.

Opening Night

If the build is the rehearsal, delivery is opening night.

Lamborghini calls its factory handover program “La Prima,” and the name fits. This is a premiere, complete with staging, lighting, and a reveal designed to land somewhere between goosebumps and disbelief. Whether it happens at the factory or halfway across the world, the moment is engineered for impact.

But in Sant’Agata, it hits differently. You’re standing where the car was born, surrounded by the people who made it, with friends and family in tow. The cover comes off. There it is—the exact machine you imagined months ago, now very real, very loud, and very much yours.

It’s hard not to get a little dramatic about it. Lamborghini certainly doesn’t mind.

The Part Where Ownership Actually Begins

Here’s the twist: delivery isn’t the finale. It’s the intermission.

Because once the keys are handed over, Lamborghini pivots from builder to host. Owners are folded into a calendar of experiences that range from snow-driving academies—like Accademia Neve, where physics becomes a suggestion—to full-bore track programs that encourage you to explore the outer edges of both grip and courage.

Then there are the rallies, the club events, the curated gatherings in improbable locations. It’s a social ecosystem as much as an automotive one, binding owners through shared absurdity and mutual appreciation for V10s and V12s that sound like mechanical opera.

More Than a Car, Less Than Subtle

It would be easy to dismiss all of this as excess. And sure, there’s plenty of that. But what Lamborghini understands—perhaps better than anyone—is that the car itself is only part of the appeal. The rest is narrative: the build, the wait, the reveal, the belonging.

In a world where you can spec a car online in ten minutes and forget about it five minutes later, Lamborghini stretches the experience into something deliberately analog, deliberately emotional.

So yes, the poster still goes up. But these days, it’s not just a picture of a car. It’s a preview of a story—one that, if you’re lucky enough to live it, starts long before the engine fires and doesn’t really end when it does.

Source: Lamborghini