Bentley has opened a new chapter with the unveiling of the Torcal, which is the historic ultra-luxury manufacturer’s first production battery-electric vehicle. As part of Bentley Motors’ Beyond 100+ strategy, the introduction of a battery-electric vehicle is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle of Bentley’s near future.
As with any new model, but especially with the Torcal, it was paramount for Bentley Motors to make sure the Torcal was thoroughly developed. To that end, the Torcal underwent an incredibly rigorous testing and development process, which is being revealed by the manufacturer weeks after the car was unveiled to the public.
Development prototypes of the Bentley Torcal drove for over 600,000 miles in total. Enduring a diverse range of environments and conditions, the Torcal went from sub-zero temperatures in Sweden to desert heat of over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Conquering a wide range of altitudes, the Torcal prototypes went from sea level to of Pikes Peak in Colorado, at over 14,000 feet.
Extended Reality, or XR technology, was used to optimize the ergonomics of the new Bentley Torcal, digitalizing the vehicle faithfully, down to its adjustable seats and interactive controls. Meanwhile, the Physical Design Confirmation phase allowed developers to ensure physical parts matched their CAD counterparts, while also testing their fit, clearances, and usability.
As an all-electric car, the electrical systems are extremely important in the new Bentley Torcal, and alongside the vehicle architecture, the software was meticulously developed for the Torcal. On a six-week cycle, new software integration levels were developed and carefully tested for safety and dependability.
A new challenge for Bentley was that of the battery, as the Torcal is the brand’s first production BEV. Its immense energy density means that one of the biggest priorities for the vehicle was to protect the battery. Bentley did that by requiring two hours of fire resistance in the Torcal’s design, engineering the car to withstand significant underside impacts, and exposing the assembly to salt-spray corrosion, as well as other environmental tests for durability.
Camouflaged for its intense development cycle, the new Bentley Torcal was painstakingly validated in order to introduce BEVs to Bentley’s lineup in a way that lives up to the brand’s century-long legacy of automotive excellence. Now that it’s been unwrapped and revealed, the new Torcal has passed its gauntlet of tests to show how an electric-powered Bentley is made.
Image Source: Bentley Motors
