Bentley Reveals Futuristic EXP 100 GT to Celebrate Brand Centenary

As Bentley celebrates its 100th anniversary today, the company has revealed a “vision of the future” with the EXP 100 GT concept car.

The EXP 100 GT serves partly as an homage to the brand’s heritage and partly as a glimpse into design and technology that will define Bentley over the coming year.

That starts with an electric drivetrain, something yet to appear on a modern Bentley. It’s a four-motor set-up — likely one motor per wheel, although Bentley hasn’t specified — with torque vectoring and a maximum torque of 1,100lbft.

Although the car weighs 1900kg, that’s sufficient for a 186mph top speed and a 2.5-second sprint to 60mph. However the unspecified battery pack, using technology that’s yet to be created, will also allow for a range of up to 435 miles.

That two-tonne kerb weight comes despite the car’s large footprint, at 5.8 metres long and almost 2.4 metres wide. Bentley has kept the heft down by using lightweight materials like carbon fibre and aluminium for the vehicle structure.

In fact the careful selection of materials plays a major role inside and out, with Bentley sourcing as much sustainable and recyclable material as it can.

The EXP 100 GT also features aluminium and copper in the cabin, with a unique wood known as Riverwood. This comes from trees which fell naturally and have been preserved in peat bogs in East Anglia for 5,000 years.

Bentley uses materials from other UK-based companies too, with Hand and Lock of London providing the door embroidery, and Bridge of Weir Leather of Scotland developing the vehicle hide.

There’s also byproducts from other industries — with grape waste from winemaking creating a material like leather, and recycled rice husks in the vehicle paint — so the EXP 100 GT actually absorbs waste from elsewhere.

Of course technology is a significant part of the EXP 100 GT as Bentley looks towards the future, with AI front and centre — quite literally.

The Bentley Personal Assistant can both be controlled with an interface made of Cumbrian crystal, but also uses biometric sensors and artificial intelligence to configure the interior environment as appropriate.

That includes adjusting seating position and surfaces, lighting and ambient lighting, air quality, electrochromatic glass, and even recreating smells. Augmented reality also allows passengers to interact with and learn from the outside world.

Naturally the EXP 100 GT also features autonomous driving, although it’s not clear to what level. However Bentley says drivers could choose to drive the car themselves on a fun road but let the car do the dull stuff.

While we’re not likely to see the EXP 100 GT, or many of its features, in a production car, it’s still an interesting look ahead at what the company has planned in its second century.