BENTLEY BENTAYGA HYBRID S

Stronger electric motor and bigger battery for plug-in version of luxury SUV

- MATT SAUNDERS

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It must be tricky for car makers like Bentley to know how much and how quickly to commit to the electrification of its cars.

A battle is being fought between the volume-selling premium brands at present, with new plug-in hybrid SUVS emerging month by month from BMW, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and others with upwards of 60, 70 or even 80 miles of official 'equivalent all-electric range'.

To a certain extent, it's a battle that Bentley can afford to stand and watch, as nobody buying a Bentayga will be worrying about benefit-in-kind tax bills. But it can only stay on the sidelines for so long, because soon enough, the customer is going to start to wonder why that colleague's Range Rover can do 70 miles between charges while their Bentayga struggles to manage 30.