YOU could be forgiven for thinking that the last thing Bentley buyers might be interested in is saving the planet - but now they've got the chance to make a significant contribution.

It comes in the shape of the new Bentayga Hybrid - the luxury SUV sector's first true plug-in hybrid, according to the company, which is now available to order priced at £133,100 before taxes and add-ons with first deliveries expected in the last quarter of this year.

It's claimed to be the VW-owned Crewe firm's most efficient model ever, with combined driving CO2 emissions of just 79gm/km according to official testing, compared with 210 for the most efficient internal combustion-engined model - the four-litre, eight-cylinder diesel.

Combined fuel consumption of 80.7 mpg on the official WLTP cycle compares with 35.8mpg for the diesel-powered Bentayga and it's achieved with no significant loss of performance - the 0-60mph sprint is ticked-off in just 5.2 seconds and top speed is 158mph.

Those figures are achieved by combining a three-litre, turbocharged V6 petrol engine - which has been lifted from the VW Group's parts bin - with a state-of-the-art electric motor.

Bentley claims a total driving range of 464 miles and an all-electric range of 24.23 miles on a single charge with a full recharge of the battery taking as little as two and a half hours.

Among the cutting-edge driver systems are several intelligent satnav features specific to the Bentayga Hybrid. When the driver enters a journey into the system, the optimum combination of electric motor and engine is automatically calculated and used for most effective use of hybrid power. According to the current position of the car, the system will also provide on-screen information of the maximum remaining range in EV mode.

There are three hybrid drive modes. In EV Drive mode, the all-new hybrid is driven only with energy supplied from the battery to the wheels via the electric motor. In Hybrid mode the car uses information from the navigation system to intelligently optimise power usage while in Hold mode the use of engine and electric power is balanced to maintain electric range for later use. In all modes energy is recovered to the battery through regeneration during deceleration.