Bentley Torcal EV Battery Must Withstand Two Hour Fire Test and Over 100mph Projectile

• Bentley has run its first electric car, the Torcal, through more than 1,000,000 kilometres of prototype testing, from minus 38C in Sweden to over 40C in desert heat.
• The Torcal battery, about 625 kg, must stay free of fire propagation and explosion for at least two hours in a thermal incident and face a 30 mm steel projectile fired at more than 100mph.
• Bentley is stripping the camouflage from its development fleet as the Torcal moves closer to customer deliveries, though no delivery date has been given.

The Fire Test, the Projectile and the Salt Spray Facing the Torcal Battery

Bentley sets two hard pass marks for the battery in the Torcal. After a thermal incident the pack must stay free of fire propagation or explosion for a minimum of two hours. And a 30 mm steel projectile, about 1.2 inches across and about 111 grams, is launched at the battery enclosure at speeds above 100mph, about 161km/h, to validate its resistance to road impacts.

These are Bentley’s own tests and figures, and no independent verification accompanies them. Bentley quotes an energy density of more than 180 Wh/kg for a pack of about 625 kg.

Prototype and pre-series Torcals have collectively covered more than 1,000,000 kilometres, about 621,000 miles, in climates from minus 38C to over 40C. That is a spread of more than 78 degrees. The cars also climbed from sea level to more than 14,000 ft, about 4,270 metres, at Pikes Peak in Colorado.

Bentley has given no delivery date, no range figure and no charging speed alongside these results. Buyers who followed the Torcal reveal still have those questions open.

How the Torcal Battery Is Protected From Below

A composite impact shield is mounted beneath the battery. Bentley says it safeguards the cells and associated components from impacts to the underside of the car. The 111 gram projectile test targets that exposure.

Corrosion gets its own check. The battery system must withstand salt-spray exposure, along with a range of environmental and durability evaluations. Bentley says the pack also goes through regulatory compliance testing to meet global safety standards.

Bentley describes battery safety as sitting at the heart of the vehicle system, with multiple layers of protection and monitoring built through the design. In the extremely rare event of significant battery damage, the car is engineered to give the highest possible protection to its occupants for as long as possible. That is a design aim, not a measured figure, and Bentley has published no result for it.

Battery fires are a live concern well beyond cars. QBE Insurance asked UK fire services for their records under Freedom of Information rules, and the 42 of 49 services that had replied by 21 April 2026 attended the equivalent of 4.8 lithium-ion battery fires a day in 2025, up from two a day in 2022, as the lithium battery fire figures show. Those fires cover every product that uses the cells. E-bikes accounted for 520 of them in 2025, and electric car fires rose from 120 in 2022 to 279 in 2025. QBE’s count is not a complete national total. Against that background, a two hour fire requirement for a car pack addresses a risk buyers have heard about.

Sweden to Pikes Peak: The Climate Programme

Bentley tested the Torcal at the cold end in Sweden, where temperatures reached minus 38C, and in desert heat above 40C. Altitude work took the cars from sea level to more than 14,000 ft at Pikes Peak in Colorado.

Bentley calls the whole effort a years-long ratification process and links the climate work to the unique demands of global markets. Prototype and pre-series cars together account for the 1,000,000 kilometres, so no single car covered that distance.

Software Every Six Weeks and Three Teams

The Torcal carries what Bentley calls one of the most ambitious electrical and software programmes in its history. Three specialist teams worked in continuous collaboration across electrical architecture, software integration and validation testing.

A new software integration level arrives every six weeks, which works out at close to nine a year. Each one carries refinements, new functions and performance gains and is validated in laboratories and in real vehicles before the next phase begins.

Digital Cabins, Laser Scans and Camouflage Coming Off

Before any part existed, Bentley’s Concept Validation team built a fully digital Torcal in its Extended Reality (XR) Hub, with adjustable seating positions, interactive controls and a realistic cabin. Bentley says the method let engineers refine customer interaction with the car long before physical components exist, and reduced development time.

Physical checks followed. More than ninety per cent of the parts were available at the Physical Design Confirmation stage, which validates fit, clearance, serviceability, build quality and customer interaction. Laser scanning compared parts directly against CAD data to find deviations early, and sequenced slow-build exercises simulated production conditions to test assembly and flow.

The disguise is now coming off. Development cars wore graphic wraps meant to disrupt photography and, in places, temporary body panels. Bentley is removing that camouflage from the development fleet as the Torcal moves closer to customer deliveries.

What the finished car offers is already published. The most powerful Torcal powertrain makes 888 PS and 1,350 Nm, and Bentley quotes 0 to 60mph in 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 162mph, as set out in the Torcal First Edition details. Those figures are the maker’s. Bentley has yet to say how the battery fares in owners’ hands, and customer deliveries have yet to begin.

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