Sustainable luxury: Bentley Mulliner Batur debuts

Sustainable luxury: Bentley Mulliner Batur debuts

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Bentley used the Monterey Car Week to finally take the wraps off its ultra-low-volume Mulliner coupe model, showcasing what the marque's future electric models will look like.

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Called the Bentley Mulliner Batur, it looks completely different from the Bentleys of this world. Gone are the split headlights, which have now been replaced by sleek clusters that incorporate LED accents.

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The new Batur comes with an endless array of choices when it comes to exterior paint finishes, thanks to the full Mulliner colour palette. For better aerodynamics, the Batur features a front splitter, side skirts as well as a rear diffuser which can either be crafted in carbon fibre or the new sustainable Natural Fibre composite.

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Regarding the exterior bright ware, it can be any mix of light and dark, satin or gloss or even titanium with the option to have the front grille in contrasting colour.

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The Batur rides on bespoke 22" wheels with the 'standard' option painted in Black Crystal with a polished surface. An option is also available to blend the dark gloss surface with satin spokes. Furthermore, Bentley will also allow buyers to specify body-paint-matching wheels, or even go for a contrast finish.

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As a two-seater cruiser, the interior of the Batur nods to the design of the Bacalar and adds new sustainable luxury features that can be specified by the buyer. These include low-carbon leather that's sourced from Scotland or sustainably tanned leather from Italy. Available in five different shades, Dinamica, is an alternative suede-like sustainable alternative to leather that can also be ticked on the list.

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Another new material used by Bentley is Natural Fibre Composite. It's a sustainable alternative to carbon fibre with the 2x2 twill weave finished in a satin lacquer. The carpets are made entirely from recycled yarn for the first time in a Bentley car. Depending on the buyer's taste, the interior can be had either in bright, dark or titanium, with the option to have the organ stops for ventilation in 3D-printed 18-Karat gold.

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Although Bentley wants to become a fully-electric carmaker by 2030, the Batur isn't electric. It spawns a 6.0-litre W12 twin-turbocharged engine that pumps out 544 kW of power and a mountain-moving 1,000 Nm of torque; this, in Bentley's history books, is the most powerful car it has ever built.

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Furthermore, Bentley says the Batur has 3-chamber air suspension, Drive Dynamics Control and a 48-volt electric active anti-roll control system that should translate into one dynamic driving machine.

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Braking is provided by Bentley's CSiC (Carbon-Silicon-Carbide) braking system that consists of 440 mm front and 410 mm rear discs, matched with 10-piston front and 4-piston rear callipers.

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The new Bentley Mulliner Batur is expected to reach customers in mid-2023 after an extensive development programme and only 18 series examples will be made. Pricing? Each unit has been reserved by Mulliner clients and each is priced at a steep $2.3 m (about R39,137,720) excluding taxes and options.

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