Because titanic power and peerless opulence will get an automaker only so far in this age of $100-a-barrel crude oil, Volkswagen-owned Bentley has announced a truly ambitious plan to slash its vehicles' fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. According to Bentley chief exec Franz-Josef Paefgen, the British automaker's cars will see a 15-percent fleet-average reduction in CO2 emissions and a stunning 40-percent improvement in fuel economy by the 2012 model year — with no sacrifice in performance.
Specifically, the company is aiming for average CO2 emissions of less than 120 g/km (a figure roughly on par with the current Euro-market Volkswagen Golf 1.9TDI BlueMotion turbodiesel). As for fuel economy, a 40-percent savings would, as a hypothetical example, see the new 602-horsepower Continental GT Speed (pictured here) improve from a combined city/highway rating of 14 mpg to almost 20 mpg.
Early on, much of the savings will come from engine and driveline refinements and vehicle weight reduction, but Paefgen is keen as well to see all Bentleys compatible with second-generation biofuels (derived from agricultural residue and waste products, as opposed to otherwise edible materials such as corn or soybeans). In fact, he's promised an initial rollout of a biofuel-capable Bentley — likely an E85-ready Continental — next year.
"This is a major step in the history of Bentley," he notes, "reflecting the increasing expectation from our customers around the world for performance motoring with fuel efficient engines. We will set a benchmark in our segment of the industry by making every engine capable of running on renewable fuels, reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency throughout our fleet."
Photo courtesy of Bentley.
