The Bentley Continental GT Speed Hybrid 2025: A High-Energy Plug-In Vehicle With a 208 mph Top Speed
To paraphrase, high-net-worth individuals with multi-car garages aren’t especially enamoured of high-end EVs, regardless of how extreme their performance might be. Ferrari’s long-awaited BEV lands in 2025; perhaps that’ll be the one that finally moves the needle.
The new car has more nuanced ways in which it uses its firepower. It really has a very carefully engineered bandwidth. While Bentley prepares an all-new pure-electric car—that’s due in 2026—the hybrid takes on a greater significance than was initially forecast. The plug-in hybrid was seen as a transitional vehicle, but now is playing a bigger role because of changing consumer habits.
It combines a 4.0-liter twin turbo V8 that’s good for 584 bhp with an electric motor that adds a further 187 bhp. In other words, a system output of 773 bhp, 738 lbs of Torque, and a top speed of 335 km/h is sufficient for a top speed of 208 mph. The car that weighed 2.5 tonnes has now a weight of 888-282-0465 888-282-0465 888-282-0465 888-282-0465. Sheesh.
The R-Type Continental gave the design inspiration for this fourth- generation car, with its loud grille, large bonnet, and flamboyant sweep of the rear fender. A strong sense of opulence is underpinned by a steely commitment to high performance.
The proportions remain intact, but some of the details have been changed. The matrix lamps with 120 separate LEDs include a crystal cutting diamond effect on the top of them and a questionable horizontal eyebrow. It’s not normal to have crystal and diamond in one set of headlights.
Source: Bentley Continental GT Speed Hybrid 2025 Review: Prices, Specs, Availability
The Grand Tour of the Italian Autonomous Evo (aka Gran Turismo, or How the Evo got its First Grand Touring). I. The Formula Evo Concept
Somehow the idea of the grand tour prevails. Its roots are in the 17th and 18th century campaign for self- improvement but we know it better as a two-letter abbreviation that means Gran Turismo. Ettore Bugatti dismissed his great rival Bentley’s early efforts as fast lorries, but the name is synonymous with a lavish and borderline hedonistic attitude to life.
When Formula E launched, it was a long time before others. EV racing was cool before owning one, but the grid was barely able to support a high-end race.
But a lot can happen in 10 seasons. Today the cars are faster, lighter, and more powerful, hitting top speeds of 200 mph and doing 0 to 60 in under 2 seconds. They can complete a race on a single charge. Most importantly, they and their drivers offer up good racing, and the fans keep coming back. Over a decade ago, Formula E had just under 300 million fans, but now they have come a long way to 400 million.
Jeff Dodds said that the internal combustion engine is 130 years old compared to 15 years for EV technology. For me, this means over the next 10 years the cars will get materially faster, more efficient.
It’s really the battery technology I get most excited about. With the advent of solid-state batteries in the coming years, we will likely be able to make similar power in a smaller battery unit, which will bode well for us in the future. A fundamental change in how a racing car behaves and develops is caused by less weight in the car. We are going to see cars that are much more powerful and lighter.
In terms of comparables with Formula One, our Gen 3 Evo car—the car that will race next season, season 11—will already be faster-accelerating. A current Formula One car will get to 60 miles an hour in about 2.6 seconds; we’ll get to it in about 1.8 seconds.
But obviously, in other areas of performance we’re constrained by the parameters of the series. We choose to race largely in urban environments. In cities, you can’t build a 5-mile, 50-meter-wide circuit and race like Formula One. We have to have cars that can perform in a street-circuit environment.