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Quick Fitting
- The Bentley EXP 100 GT concept featured sustainable materials like 5,000 year old bog oak and recycled rice husk paint.
- The vehicle was designed with a Bentley Personal Assistant that used biometric sensors to adjust passenger comfort.
- Technical projections included 1,350 PS, a 0 to 100 km/h time under 2.5 seconds, and a 700 kilometer range.
- Bentley has shifted its strategy to a compact luxury urban SUV arriving in 2027 rather than the original Grand Tourer vision.
The vision of the future didn’t stop at the materials. It extended throughout the entire vehicle, reaching what Bentley called the car’s soul: the “Bentley Personal Assistant” was designed to deliver the ultimate grand touring experience. Interior lighting adapted to the surroundings during the drive, while biometric sensors automatically adjusted passenger temperature and seating position. The car was meant to anticipate needs rather than simply be operated – and in autonomous mode, the steering wheel could fully retract into the dashboard.
A show car doesn’t have to function. It has to point a direction. The EXP 100 GT did that in 2019 – and six years later, we can measure how much of that vision has endured.
How Fast and How Far Was the EXP 100 GT Meant to Travel?
When it came to technical specifications, Bentley made no compromises, at least on paper. Four electric motors were projected to deliver a combined output of around 1,350 PS and immense torque. The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h was stated at under 2.5 seconds, with a top speed of 300 km/h. Crucially, the battery-powered drivetrain was designed to produce zero local emissions. The rumored range was approximately 700 kilometers per charge, and a future battery generation was expected to charge to 80 percent in just 15 minutes. These were aspirational figures from 2019 – numbers for a car that was never meant for sale, but which set a very high bar for Bentley’s electric future.
What Became of the 2035 Vision?
This is where the retrospective becomes interesting. The vision of the future has transformed into a more concrete, slower reality. Bentley has since adapted its original “Beyond100” strategy to “Beyond100+” and reacted to the cooled-down EV market. The first all-electric production Bentley is not arriving in 2025 or even earlier, but will only be unveiled in 2026 – and it’s not a Grand Tourer, but a compact luxury urban SUV under five meters in length, designed to charge from zero to 160 kilometers of range in less than seven minutes. Deliveries are planned for 2027.
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