Bentley Is Showing Jaguar How To Take A Luxury Brand Into The Future With The New EXP 15

It’s been an interesting run for Bentley under Volkswagen Group ownership, from re-engineering the Arnage and the 6.75-liter V8 to launching the original Phaeton-based Continental GT, from developing the Bentayga and a fresh W12 engine to the plug-in hybrids of today. There are now more parts being shared among models than ever before, yet quality materials and attention to detail is reason to buy a Bentayga over, say, an Audi RSQ8. However, with the first electric model around the corner, the brand is taking a dramatic visual turn. This isn’t it, but it is the Bentley EXP 15, and it’s about to dictate what future Bentleys look like.

Yes, we’re looking at the first Bentley concept in five years, the last being the EXP 100 GT that previewed the single-lamp look seen on cars from the Bacalar to the new Continental GT. While that was a pure concept of what a Bentley might look like in 2035, the EXP 15 is meant to be a rough preview of cues we’ll see on Bentley’s first electric vehicle, debuting in 2026.

Back in Bentley’s Le Mans days, Ettore Bugatti called the British brand’s 3 Litre model “the fastest lorry in the world,” and there’s something similarly imposing about the EXP 15. While some automakers have sculpted their battery packs to accommodate a reasonably low hip point, Bentley is leaning into the presence of a big pack under the floor with tall coachwork to match the thick sills. Touches like beveling the doors where they meet the sill and serving up a crisp character line running into massive haunches prevent the EXP 15 from looking like a brick, yet the end result serves up mass not seen in a Bentley since the Mulsanne. Fantastic.

Up front, I can’t help but get shades of a Zeekr 009 vibe thanks to the upright body-color grille. Any comparison to a Chinese-market luxury minivan is likely unintentional, and the hood-to-valence vertical lighting elements draw rather literal lines of distinction. Around back, a plunging roofline swoops down to a kammtail with giant yet wafer-thin C-shaped taillights. If you’re getting a whiff of tech influence, just wait until you see the interior.

Yep, we’re looking at a Bentley with extensive use of cloth. Specifically, a wool textile from Fox Brothers and a silk jacquard from Gainsborough adding contrast against titanium surfaces and leather. Traditional, yet modern, considering the trendy move away from all-hide everything. Speaking of trends, ambient lighting makes an appearance here, but it’s different from what you get in a Magic City Maybach. Bentley has made this metal mesh embedded in acrylic that’s then backlit to provide an architectural feeling, and the result is far more subtle than most uses of light inside a modern vehicle. Sure, the three-seat layout is pure flight of fancy, and that steering wheel probably isn’t housing an airbag, but there’s lots here that could potentially make it to production cars.

While the Bentley EXP 15 isn’t traditionally beautiful, it feels traditionally Bentley despite the big leap of an all-electric all-wheel-drive powertrain. Although the actual production electric Bentley won’t be this size and probably won’t be quite this monolithic, this glimpse gives the one percent something to get excited about.

Top graphic image: Bentley

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