The Next Bentley Mulsanne May Not Have A Combustion Engine

But the current model will stick around until the early part of the next decade.

While Rolls-Royce introduced the new eighth-generation Phantom last year, the current-generation Bentley Mulsanne has been around since 2010. You would think Bentley's flagship luxury sedan is long overdue an update, but according to a report by Autocar we may have to wait until next decade for an all-new Mulsanne to arrive. According to the report, the current model will remain in production until the early 2020s because Bentley can’t decide how its flagship luxury sedan should evolve in the future.

And when it does eventually arrive, it could ditch its twin-turbo 6.75-liter V8 gasoline engine in favor of a fully electric powertrain. Bentley also still hasn’t decided whether the new Mulsanne will be a like-for-like successor or reinvented as a completely different car, according to Autocar. It will still be positioned as Bentley’s range-topping flagship model, however. While Bentley isn’t keen on building an all-electric version of the Bentayga SUV, the British automaker is considering transforming the Mulsanne into a flagship luxury EV. The timing would make since, as EV technology will have evolved considerably by the time the new Mulsanne launches - but it will face some strong competition.

Volkswagen is planning to put the electric Vizzion I.D. sedan into production by 2022, while Aston Martin will have launched its new Lagonda luxury brand. Jaguar is also heading in a similar direction, with plans to take on Tesla with an all-electric XJ next year as the company’s new flagship sedan. Rumors have also suggested Bentley is considering building a four-door electric coupe using hardware adapted from the Porsche Mission E. Bentley has already started its electrification strategy with the recent reveal of the Bentayga Plug-In Hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show.

Spy shots have also caught the next-generation Flying Spur with an extra fuel cap, indicating it will also be partially electrified. An all-electric Continental GT is also on the cards for the future next-generation model, but we probably won't see it for over a decade.

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