- Second Bentley SUV will be sold only as an EV.
- It rides on Porsche’s Premium Platform Electric.
- The base version could deliver around 600 hp.
If the Bentayga proved anything, it is that Bentley buyers have no issue with a luxury SUV wearing a winged badge. So a second one was never really in doubt. That follow-up is now deep into development, and it has just been spotted winter testing for the first time.
For now, it is referred to as the Urban SUV, though that name is almost certainly temporary. It will sit below the Bentayga in the range and, more significantly, it will be fully electric. Yes, the EV market has cooled slightly, but Bentley appears confident that its customers are still ready for a battery-powered SUV with the right badge on the nose.
Read: Bentley’s New Urban SUV Copies A Controversial Feature From Audi’s Q3
Several prototypes have been seen out on the road in recent months, but this is the first time one has appeared wearing this darker, more dramatic camouflage scheme. It’s been adorned with a large LED light bar at the front, ensuring the engineers testing it can still see after the sun sets in the depths of Europe’s winter.
SH Proshots
Most of the Urban SUV’s shape is still carefully disguised, but a few details are slipping through. Up front, the headlights feature four distinct lighting elements, giving it a signature that sets it apart from today’s Bentleys. Around the back, temporary cladding does its best to obscure the view, though slim LED taillights are clearly visible beneath the camouflage.
A Porsche Powertrain
Bentley is building its second SUV on the same Premium Platform Electric architecture as the new Porsche Cayenne Electric. That strongly suggests plenty of shared hardware with its German cousin, potentially including battery packs and motor configurations.
As it stands, the entry-level Cayenne Electric delivers 402 hp and tops out at 1,039 hp in the extraordinary Turbo variant. Our hunch is that the base Bentley will deliver around 600 hp. Whether or not it receives a flagship version with a four-digit horsepower figure remains uncertain.
One figure Bentley does seem keen to emphasize is charging speed. The SUV is expected to support ultra-fast DC charging, with the promise of adding 100 miles (160 km) of range in just seven minutes.
Audi Meets Porsche Inside
Late last year, our spy photographers finally caught the cabin in clear view. The images show a curved central infotainment screen that looks very close to the setup in the Cayenne Electric, paired with a separate digital instrument cluster ahead of the driver. It is familiar architecture, even if the surrounding materials will inevitably be pure Bentley.
There is more evidence of parts sharing lower down the steering column. Bentley’s compact electric SUV appears to use the same multi-function stalk arrangement as the new Audi Q3. Indicators, wipers, and headlight controls are grouped on the left stalk, while the right is dedicated solely to the shifter.
As for timing, Bentley could give us our first proper look at the production-ready model later this year. Customer deliveries of the Urban SUV are expected to begin in 2027, which gives Crewe a little time to perfect the details and, presumably, settle on a name that is not “Urban SUV.”
