The days of the W12 engine at Bentley and thus in the VW Group are numbered.
In the future, the group's luxury cars will be electric.
But before retirement there is another PS update.
Bentley discontinues the twelve-cylinder engine.
In April 2024, the last W12 petrol engine is scheduled to leave the VW subsidiary's factory in Crewe, UK.
At the farewell party, however, the most powerful version of the six-liter engine to date, with 552 kW/750 hp, will be on the road – but only on board the limited-edition Batur luxury coupe, which costs around two million euros.
The twelve-cylinder celebrated its premiere in 2001 on board the Audi A8 luxury sedan.
It was then used in VW's premium experiment, the Phaeton, and in the SUV flagship Touareg.
In addition, the Dutch super sports car manufacturer Spyker bought the W12 engine from the north German company.
Bentley relies on electric and retires W12 engine: PS update to say goodbye
Since 2020, responsibility for the unit has been with the VW luxury subsidiary Bentley, which currently offers it in all models.
A total of around 100,000 units of the engine were built over the years.
In the future, however, the British will no longer have room for the prestige engine.
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Because Bentley will build electric cars in the future, the W12 engine will be retired in 2024.
©Bentley
In addition to the plug-in hybrids that are already available, the brand's sedans and SUVs will soon only be powered by electric motors, and from 2030 there will finally be an end to combustion technology.
The first purely electric model is scheduled to roll off the assembly line at the Crewe plant as early as 2025.
The Audi subsidiary also uses the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) for this.
The Stromer should then accelerate to 100 km/h in record time thanks to 1,400 hp.
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Bentley relies on electric and retires W12 engine: Rolls-Royce also adopted twelve-cylinder
Bentley is not alone with the twelve-cylinder end: from 2030 at the latest, even the closest competitor Rolls-Royce only wants to offer electric vehicles, but the V12 should remain available in the brand's current models for the time being.
Sister company BMW has already discontinued its V12 in 2022 and only offers six and eight cylinders in the 7 series.
The powerful and smooth-running engine type is still available in the Mercedes and Maybach S-Class.
(Holger Holzer/SP-X)
Rubric list image: © Bentley
