Page explains that the powertrain combines the drive motor from a Cayenne Electric at the rear with one from an Audi Q6 E-tron at the front, for on-paper peak power of “around 850 horsepower”. It uses the same 113kWh drive battery and 800V architecture as the Cayenne, for a WLTP range of about “370 miles” even on 22in rims. And it weighs “about 2.7 tonnes”. Not bad considering the new Jag EV is set to be a 2.8-tonne car and a Rolls-Royce Spectre weighs 2.9 tonnes.
The Monterey traffic is too heavy, here and now, to get any sense of this car’s performance potential. Apparently it doesn’t have ‘manual regen’ paddles. There are, instead, three modes for energy regeneration: automatic (in which the car blends it up and down by itself), ‘fixed on’ (a constant strength) and off (in which the car coasts on a trailing accelerator).
It sounds just right, however. There’s no ‘spaceship noise’ from this EV, inside or out. Instead, Bentley spent a lot of time and money recording and studying actual V8 engine noise – and, uniquely, getting musicians to imitate its rhythms and cadences.
By doing so, it has created for the Torcal a ‘V8-alike’ synthesised engine noise whose tempo, pitch and volume changes with throttle load and speed. It’s understated in ‘Bentley’ mode, a little more forthright in ‘Sport’ and genuinely convincing either way (although you can turn it off, if you prefer). And there’s a speaker that broadcasts it, discreetly enough, externally as well as to passengers riding onboard.