New Bentley Continental GT debuts next month with hybrid power

Bentley has a new Continental GT coming next month, but it won’t arrive with the gas-only 8- or 12-cylinder engines seen in years past. The fourth-generation car will get Bentley’s new Ultra Hybrid Performance powertrain, a plug-in hybrid system that delivers big power from a V8 combined with an electric motor.

The automaker claims 771 horsepower and around 738 pound-feet of torque from the electrified powertrain, saying that it will make the new GT “the most powerful and most dynamically capable Bentley road car in the company’s 105-year history.” For reference, the current GT’s W12 engine produces 650 horsepower and 664 pound-feet of torque, propelling the car to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. The current V8 makes 542 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. Bentley didn’t give acceleration numbers for the new model, but with more than 100 additional horsepower and more than 70 extra pound-feet of torque over the W12, it should be noticeably quicker. Bentley also claims the Continental GT will have 50 miles of electric-only range and carbon dioxide emissions of under 50 grams per kilometer.

Power will continue to go through all four wheels along with torque vectoring and an electronic limited-slip differential. Bentley will also include more trick features such as four-wheel steering and its 48-volt electronic active anti-roll control.

The automaker may continue offering a gas V8 as an entry point to the line, but hasn't confirmed it either way. The Continental GT comprises a third of Bentley’s overall sales, with almost 100,000 units sold in its more than 20-year run on the market. That popularity is reflected in the number of GT variants Bentley offers, though we don’t yet know how and where the hybrid will be positioned in the GT catalog. Prices will likely climb a bit to start around $250,000 and could reach the mid-$300,000 range at the top.