Bentley\u2019s first electric car will replace the roar of a large-capacity combustion engine with an orchestral soundtrack that uses musical instruments to mimic the character of a V8.<\/p>\n
Rather than synthesise an engine noise like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N<\/a>\u00a0or amplify the actual sound of its EV motors like the Ferrari Luce<\/a>, the new Torcal SUV takes an entirely different approach to fill the silence of an electric powertrain.<\/p>\n Bentley took inspiration from the \u201cincredible engines\u201d in its back catalogue \u2013 including the very early supercharged motors of the 1930s, the long-serving 6.75-litre V8 and the more recent W12 \u2013 as it worked to create a distinctive \u2018engine note\u2019 for the Torcal.<\/p>\n The priority, said Bentley, was to ensure its\u00a0debut EV provided the same \u201cimmersive and emotional experience\u201d under acceleration as its petrol-powered forebears – an experience it likens to \u201clistening to a grand orchestral performance\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n To that end, Bentley put a V8 engine in a studio and analysed its aural characteristics, determining that \u201crhythm, rather than pure mechanical tone, was central to its emotional appeal\u201d. Comparing the V8 with a live drummer, it said, \u201crevealed striking similarities in energy, cadence and impact\u201d.<\/p>\n Another finding was that a combustion engine soundtrack is \u201cnot perfectly uniform\u201d\u00a0but rather contains subtle variations and imperfections that \u201cintroduce a distinctly human quality\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n The end result is the \u2018Bentley Dynamic Symphony\u2019 (listen below), which \u201cis not designed to replicate an engine\u00a0but to evoke the same feelings\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Primarily using drums to replicate the thump and thrum of a V8 engine, the Torcal\u2019s soundtrack will also feature viola and bass guitar to create a \u201cpowerful and emotive\u201d feeling on the move.<\/p>\n Bentley said it will respond to driver inputs\u00a0too, suggesting the tempo will increase under acceleration and vice versa.<\/p>\n The Torcal, which is in the final stages of testing ahead of its unveiling on 23 September in London, will effectively be a production-ready interpretation of the EXP 15 concept<\/a> that Bentley revealed last year as a showcase of its new-era design language.<\/p>\n Like the Bentayga<\/a>, Bacalar<\/a> and Batur<\/a>, the Torcal is named after a natural landmark, in this case El Torcal de Antequera, a limestone rock landscape in Andalusia, Spain. The moniker is also a nod to the Latin verb ‘torquere’, which means to twist and is the origin of the word ‘torque’.<\/p>\n The 5m-long SUV will sit below the Bentayga in Bentley’s line-up. Defining features that were previewed on the earlier show car include a striking illuminated grille panel, new-look vertical LED quad headlights and – as the first official preview image reveals \u2013 the so-called “prestigious shield” at the rear, which is modelled on the luggage carriers fitted to vintage Bentley tourers.<\/p>\n While it’s similar in silhouette to Bentley’s existing SUV and not significantly smaller, the Torcal is wholly distinct in its design. It is not intended as a replacement for the V8-powered Bentayga, which will remain on sale and gain a new combustion-powered generation in 2028<\/a>, in line with Bentley’s strategy of offering a multi-powertrain offering globally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bentley\u2019s first electric car will replace the roar of a large-capacity combustion engine with an orchestral soundtrack that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-695366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}