Bentley Continental Hybrid Coming Very Soon

The 2024 Bentley Continental GT has been spied on again, this time undergoing some winter testing. CarSpyMedia filmed a lightly disguised Continental GT hybrid, which will be the final piece in Bentley's hybrid puzzle. Every other model in the British brand's range is already available with a hybrid powertrain, apart from the Batur.

But the Batur is relevant to the Continental's update because we now know that production of the W12 engine will end a year from now. In fact, Bentley is encouraging customers to buy a W12 model now before it shuts the production line down, 20 years and 100,000 units later.

That means the 2024 updated Continental will likely only be available with two engine options; the well-known 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 or the upcoming plug-in hybrid. You can clearly see the model's fuel filler and charging port in this video.

There have been rumors that Bentley will electrify the V8, but we disagree. A more likely scenario is the same hybrid setup used by the brilliant Flying Spur hybrid. The latter is equipped with a 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6, spurred along by an electric motor and a 14.1-kilowatt-hour battery. The total system output is 536 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, which is not far off the 542 hp and 568 lb-ft produced by the V8.

Looking at those figures, one might wonder if the V8 is even still necessary. The answer is yes. Your faithful correspondent is of the opinion that it has always been the best engine available for the Conti since it was introduced in 2012.

Luckily, the V8 still has more to give. The W12 currently produces 650 hp and 664 lb-ft, but thanks to the Urus S, we know it can be tuned to produce 657 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. The small torque deficit is a small price to pay for the dirty, dirty noises the engine makes. That's something the W12 could never quite get right.

Other features we can see in the footage are new taillights and minor tweaks to the front and rear bumpers. Bentley appears to be using the current Continental as a benchmark, highlighting the updated version's lack of fog lights. The reason why is also easy enough to spot.

Those new headlights show a revised LED pattern, but we think it goes much deeper than that. Porsche recently introduced its updated HD Matrix LED headlights, which will be an option on the substantial upcoming facelift. This new technology allows for up to 16,384 LED units per headlight, and these adaptive headlights are so sophisticated that they render fog lights irrelevant. As part of the Volkswagen Group, Bentley also has access to this intellectual property, and it would make sense to make the technology standard on such a high-end car.

No reveal date has been set, but with so little camouflage, we expect it to debut late in 2023 as a 2024 model.