British luxury car manufacturer Bentley is making a sizable investment to fuel its transition to an all-electric vehicle lineup, the company said Wednesday. Bentley announced it will invest £2.5 billion – the equivalent of $3.4 billion – on the development of electric vehicles over the next 10 years. The carmaker will produce its first electric vehicles by 2025 and shift to a fully electric lineup by 2030. “Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley’s illustrious history, and in the luxury segment. It’s an ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business system, including the shift to 100 percent BEV in just eight years,” Bentley Motors Chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark said in a statement. “Our aim is to become the benchmark not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials but the entire scope of our operations,” he added. The luxury brand said its plan calls for a “complete transformation” of Bentley’s sole production facility in Crewe to minimize environmental impact. Bentley did not specify what form its first electric vehicle would take. Bentley first unveiled its plan to transition to electric vehicles in November 2020. At the time, the company said its “aim is to become the world’s benchmark luxury car business, financially resilient and recession-proof.” Known for its high-end vehicles, Bentley posted record sales figures in 2021 despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s sales increased 31 percent, with 14,659 units sold in 2021 compared to 11,206 in 2020. Bentley is a subsidiary of the Germany-based Volkswagen Group. The US auto industry has also embraced climate-friendly electric vehicles in recent years, prompting competition between traditional automakers such as General Motors and newer firms such as Tesla and Rivian. Tesla controls a sizable portion of the market and has achieved a market valuation of more than $920 billion as of Wednesday. The company will report earnings at market close. Last year, President Biden issued an executive order calling for half of all vehicles sold in the US to be zero-emission models by 2030.
