Bentley begins new era with radical raised limousine

The more upright, monolithic face is at odds with the low-slung and heavily sculpted front ends that other firms are applying to their electric cars in pursuit of enhanced efficiency. But Page said Bentley is not out to claim any range records with its electric cars.

“We’re finding that there’s a sweet spot in terms of range. Our customers are basically telling us that 300-350 miles is that sweet spot. Beyond that, they’ll use the private jet,” he said.

The “endless bonnet line” is a key feature, too, and Page points to the slim, distinctively shaped daylight opening as one of the more obvious parallels between the old and new cars.

Meanwhile, the new-look rear end, with a prominent new light signature inspired by the firm’s ‘B’ emblem, is described as the “prestigious shield” and modelled on the rear luggage carriers affixed to Bentleys of old.

The fifth design theme common to future Bentley models will be the “resting beast” proportions showcased by the EXP 15 – with a long bonnet (here housing a sizeable frunk with a pair of 1930s-style, piano-hinged lids), a cab-rear silhouette and heavily accentuated rear arches.

“We relate this to a tiger having a strong shoulder when it’s laid down,” said Page. “It’s got power in the back legs.”

Although the EXP 15 is a dramatic departure from the current conventions of Bentley design, its creators have preserved some of the firm’s most important and recognisable features.

Page cites the grille-inspired front lighting design as a prime example: “We decided to keep the grille as being our main communication. In the past, the grille was all about getting air into the car. We don’t need that any more, so we created a piece of art.

The concept’s front end is dominated by a large section of cutaway diamond motifs, with a ‘crystal’-themed LED light display behind, giving a dynamic effect that changes according to the angle they are viewed from. The EXP 15 also swaps from a traditional circular headlight design to a slimline vertical arrangement that references the chrome strips on the wings of the old Speed Six.

Page said round headlights are effectively a hangover from a time when lighting technology wouldn’t allow for other shapes. “What we find is every time we did round lights, you get the retro signal. We just want to test the water to see how passionate people are about round lights,” he said.

Page has sought to avoid an overtly retro-inspired design, despite taking influence from Bentley’s past. “As soon as you start to duplicate,” he said, “you fall into the retro trap.”

He added: “What we’re getting from our customers and dealers is that we need to be more modern and progressive. We love the old cars, but at the end of the day we want to be the coolest kid on the block.”

EXP 15's first-class cabin

Uniquely for a full-sized luxury car, the EXP 15 features a three-seat layout, with the nearside passenger seat sliding fore and aft electrically on demand, and rotating 90deg when the doors open for a more elegant exit – an arrangement that harks back to the cockpit of Barnato’s famous continental cruiser.

“Barnato was a playful character: he liked to drive himself, but sometimes he wanted to have a whisky in the back. And he also had his girlfriend with him, and sometimes she would sit in the back. It was a very self-indulgent car,” said Page.

The concept also has picnic seats and a champagne cooler in the tailgate, a reverse-opening rear door on the passenger side and a central section of the roof that opens when parked so passengers can stand before getting out. Bentley has even designed a bespoke dog carrier that mounts in the passenger footwell.

“What we’re finding is that people love this idea of real luxury,” said Page, “and the dog is now a very important accessory.”

He said the aim with the EXP 15’s cabin is to ensure VIP passengers have the most dramatic entrance possible upon arrival at a prestigious destination.

“The idea is that the most important person sits in the rear, and when they arrive at an occasion, the two doors open, the seat twists around, the roof goes back and you get ‘the art of arriving’. That is the Instagram photo shot – someone arriving in style and that’s what we wanted to capture,” said Page.

Traditionally, outlandish features such as these remain the preserve of concept cars as designs progress through to production, but Page said “we’ve based it all around a viable package” in order to “gauge whether this is an interesting concept”.

Meanwhile, in the centre of the dashboard, where a large touchscreen is usually mounted, there is a prominent physical dial to control various in-car functions, with a small digital display housed within it that can show the state of charge or directional arrows for the sat-nav, among other functions.

“It’s like having a mechanical watch and a digital watch,” said Page, adding that Bentley is exploring new dashboard formats that aren’t centred around a traditional touchscreen, and emphasising its focus on analogue controls, which feature throughout the cockpit of the EXP 15.

“What we’re finding, especially at our end of the market, is that people are a bit bored with full-digital screens. What makes us premium is to keep a good level of mechanical detailing that the others can’t do,” said Page.

Will Bentley build it?

The EXP 15 was conceived first and foremost as a design showcase, but Page suggested that a positive reception to its genre-bending silhouette would strengthen the likelihood of a production version.

Asked if the EXP 15 could be readied for showrooms, he said: “It’s doable.”

The concept has been designed around “a viable package and platform, and these are mechanisms that exist. What we want to do is gauge whether this is an interesting concept,” said Page.

He stopped short of saying whether the EXP 15 had been conceived around a specifi c architecture, but a variation of the SSP ‘Sport’ platform that sibling company Porsche is using for its new upcoming SUV flagship, the K1 – a large, three-row SUV that will sit above the Cayenne – would be a logical fit for a production version.

If it does make showrooms, the EXP 15 would not replace any current model, but rather it would pick up where the Mulsanne limousine left off when it was retired in 2020 after a 10-year run – once again giving the Crewe firm a direct rival to the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Before giving the green light, though, Bentley will closely monitor reaction to the EXP 15 concept in order to gauge the viability of offering a high-riding saloon in this vein.

Page said: “We know really well the GT market. We pretty much invented that market. That’s solid. We know our customers. We know what we want to do. Even in the luxury SUV market, we’re now pretty experienced.

“The one we’re curious about is the sedan… We’ve got a very successful Flying Spur. The question is: do we continue with that kind of proportioned car, or do we elevate it a bit more?”

There are no plans to dramatically reinvent the Continental GT (“people love it for that really amazing driving experience”) or the Bentayga (“its capability as an SUV is incredible”) in this vein. But Page said the market for luxury saloons is changing and the EXP 15’s unique shape could be the key to renewed success in that market.

“What we’re exploring here is: there is the traditional sedan, but is there something else out there?” he said. “People are starting all the time to want a more elevated seating position, and if you look at the trends, the SUV is constantly, always growing, and the sedan one is steady. So we’re just exploring if that’s an area that we’ve not tapped into.”

Q&A: Robin Page, director of design, Bentley

Have Chinese customers driven your focus on rear-seat comfort?

“We’re very successful with sedans in China – they love Flying Spur – so that’s definitely one area to connect with. The other thing is that our customers are changing. Even in the US, what’s important to them is how they arrive at the destination. This art of arrival is something that’s key at the premium level. They go to very exclusive events in order to arrive and be seen.”

So is there less of a focus on driver engagement?

“The 3 Litre is a car Woolf Barnato drove himself, but there was a need for him to have a drink in the back and a sideways seat. And that’s typical of our customers: they will drive the cars themselves. That’s the difference. Our customers love to drive, but there are occasions where they either want to impress someone and hence give them a really nice experience, or they want to arrive themselves at an event and be chauffeured – so it needs to do both.”

How will you balance physical and digital controls?