BENTLEY'S first battery-powered electric vehicle will be developed and built in the UK with the company committing to investing £2.5 billion in sustainability over the next ten years.

The announcement is a major boost for the UK economy and also helps secure Bentley's first step into electrification at the production plant, where all Bentley models are built and 4,000 people work.

The first BEV is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2025 and will mark a significant moment in Bentley's long history.

It will be followed by four other electric models, one each year up to 2030 and a critical step in the company's Beyond100 strategy - a ground-breaking plan launched in 2020 that will ensure Bentley is exclusively electric and end-to-end carbon neutral by the end of the decade.

The investment programme will also result in a complete transformation ofBentley's entire product portfolio and the historic Crewe Campus by embedding an industry-leading greenfield facility into a world-leading, next generation digital, low environmental impact, high-value advanced manufacturing facility.

Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: "Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley's illustrious history, and in the luxury segment. It's an ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business system, including the shift to 100 per cent BEV in just eight years.

"Our aim is to becomethebenchmark not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials but the entire scope of our operations. Securing production of our first BEV in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley, and the UK, as we plan for a long-term sustainable future in Crewe."

He added: "Thislatest announcement regardingBentley's Beyond100 planconfirms the initiation of amajor transformative phasein the company's long and illustrious history.

"The world is changing and we need to play our part in neutralisingourenvironmental impact. That means delivering on our aim to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, and reaffirming our role as the leader in sustainable luxury mobility."

Among the initiatives will be an extension of on-site energy production at Crewe, aiming to increase the number of solar panels from 30,000 to 40,000 in the next two years.

Moreover, Bentley is investigatingusing sustainable biofuel in fleet cars, including Bentley'siconicHeritage Collection.

Bentley's partnersare also being encouraged tosupport Bentley's goal of being end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030, with suppliers expected to meet minimum sustainability standards. This will extend to Bentley's global retailer network, each aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025, possibly even sooner.

The new Dream Factory includes a go-to-zero approach on the environmental impacts of manufacturing. Having achieved carbon neutral production already in 2019, Bentley aims to reduce water consumption, waste to landfill and other environmental impacts for every vehicle built in Crewe to an absolute minimum until 2030.

On Bentley's model range, the marque leads the way in the luxury hybridcarsector and will further cement that position with the release ofthe Flying Spur PHEV in 2022 added to the current Bentayga.

The company anticipates that more than 20 per cent of its sales in 2022 will come from hybridcars.