Bentley EXP15 concept

In conjunction with the opening of a brand new design studio recently, Bentley Motors revealed one of the projects its designers are working on which represents Bentley’s design vision for the future. Presented as the EXP15, the concept car takes inspiration from its early 20th century Grand Tourer heritage and interpreting it in a thoroughly modern 21st century way.

Accordingly, the 5+-metre full-size physical exterior model has an iconic upright grille, long ‘endless’ bonnet and rearward cabin reminiscent of the 1930 Bentley Speed Six Gurney Nutting Sportsman coupe, often known as the ‘Blue Train’. This famous Bentley from history is associated with a race between Woolf Barnato – then company chairman and renowned ‘Bentley Boy’ – and a luxury express train from Cannes in the south of France to Calais in the north, arriving in London before the train had even got to Calais.

In combination with ultra-modern exterior surfacing, high-tech lighting details and active aerodynamic elements, the 2025 concept roots itself firmly in the now and future. However, Bentley says the EXP15 is not the basis of any future model for production, but it provides hints to the design of future Bentleys including the brand’s first fully electric car due soon.

Within its cabin, the design approach is just as forward-thinking. Created using virtual reality software to enable designers to see and experience a wider variety of possible configurations, it mixes familiar contemporary physical car interior features like luxury seating, wing-shaped dashboard, steering wheel, dials and switches with spellbindingly futuristic digital elements that can be brought to the fore or melt away into the background as driver mood or functional need requires.

The package is unusual for featuring 3 seats and 3 doors – rather than the usual 4 or 5 of both – to afford greater luxury for the occupants, and includes innovative in-cabin storage for treasured pets and/or hand luggage as well. When stationary, even the boot space can take on a dual role as upmarket picnic seating (a British thing).

The user experience is also key to EXP15 with the car designed to act as an intelligent and thoughtful mix of a fabulous conductor and celebrated chef all rolled into one. The ‘Wing Gesture’ dashboard has long been a staple ingredient within Bentley cabins and is the brand’s first of five interior design principles, referencing the shape of the marque’s feathered emblem.

One of the design elements – ‘Iconic Details’ – describes the now famous elements associated with Bentley interiors, from ‘bullseye’ air vents and knurled switchgear to diamond-quilted seats. Similarly, back-lit materials sit behind cut veneers of Bentley’s signature quilting in the door cards and elsewhere, to add even more futuristic ambience.

A new design principle is being explored; dubbed ‘Magical Fusion’, it is about Bentley’s intent to offer a mix of physical and digital features and, in some instances, merge the two. Like an update of Bentley’s existing ‘Rotating Dashboard’ which can reveal a infotainment screen at one moment and then rotate back to a solid dashboard surface when the screen is no longer required, the EXP15’s full-width dashboard can act as a digital interface for all manner of infotainment, or switch off to reveal a veneered wood surface visible underneath the glass.

Also nestling centrally behind the screen is a clock-like device with multiple movable and illuminated fingers – referred to as the ‘Mechanical Marvel’ by its designers – which can indicate the car’s direction of travel, the state of its electric charge and much more. O it can be just a delightful centrepiece to gaze upon.

“We think people are going to get fed up with a fully digital experience and are pining for physical mechanical elements too. By combining the two, you can get the best of both worlds. It’s almost like wearing a beautiful mechanical watch on one wrist and a digital watch on the other. Imagine the magical experience you would get if mechanical and digital are overlayed together,” said Robin Page, Bentley’s Director of Design.

Although a dramatic design concept first and foremost, the EXP15’s creators have of course considered the powertrain that will enable 21st century Grand Tours with sustainable ease and effortless performance. To that end, the EXP 15 is conceived as having a fully-electric, all-wheel drive powertrain with a long range and recharging speeds commensurate with the convenience customers have come to expect of a Bentley. But as a design concept, no further details are being given of its technical specification nor possible platform.

While the 1930 Speed Six Gurney Nutting Sportsman coupe certainly stimulated the current design team’s creativity, the EXP15 is far from an exercise in ‘retro’ or looking backwards and the cars clearly look nothing like each other. It is not a preview of the smaller all-electric production Bentley vehicle expected in 2026 either, but subtle design cues relating to that first car are highlighted within this concept’s exterior form, as well as showcasing digital and technical ideas on the interior that could become reality in the longer-term.

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