Bentley Motors has today unveiled the Bentley Mulliner Batur – a new two-door grand touring coupé limited to 18 series pieces that embodies the start of a design revolution at Bentley.
Created by Director of Design Andreas Mindt and his team, the Batur is a showcase of a new design DNA that will ultimately guide the design of Bentley’s future range of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs).
The collection of just 18 series examples of the Batur is the latest project by Bentley’s in-house bespoke and coachbuilding division, Mulliner, and succeeds the Bacalar – a run of 12 individually specified, designed and handcrafted Barchettas that relaunched coachbuilding at Bentley. Like its predecessor – the Bacalar – the Batur is named after a beautiful natural body of water. Lake Batur is an 88m deep, 16 km2 crater lake in Kintamani on the island of Bali, Indonesia, and provides nutrient-rich water to both local hot springs and agriculture.
The Batur will also be the most powerful Bentley yet, with a 740+ PS version of the iconic, hand-assembled 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine that has metaphorically and literally powered Bentley’s success for the last two decades. As the engine enters its twilight years as part of Bentley’s Beyond100 transformation journey to being fully electrified, the Batur forms the first part of a celebration of the W12’s extraordinary power, torque and refinement. Engine performance will be matched to the most advanced Bentley chassis ever, with Speed-tuned air suspension, electric active anti-roll control, eLSD, four-wheel steering and torque vectoring.
All 18 examples of the Batur have already been reserved. Each one will be designed collaboratively with each customer, guided by Mulliner’s in-house design team. Customers will be able to specify the colour and finish of practically every surface of the Batur, to create a car as individual as they are. Each one will then be handcrafted over the course of several months in Mulliner’s workshop at Bentley’s carbon neutral factory in Crewe, England, with first deliveries expected in mid-2023.
The design of the Batur is the work of Bentley’s Director of Design, Andreas Mindt, and his team including Head of Exterior Design, Tobias Suehlmann and Head of Interior Design, Andrew Hart-Barron. The Bentley design DNA that has driven the creation of the Continental GT, Flying Spur and Bentayga families has been revolutionised for the Batur, introducing new themes, approaches and details. The new form language defines a new chapter for Bentley design, as part of Bentley’s Beyond100 transformational journey to become the world’s leading sustainable luxury mobility company.
The Batur previews the design principles that are driving the development of the company’s first BEV – due in 2025 – and the families of cars that follow.
Beyond the exterior form of the car lies an almost endless array of choices for each car’s future owner to make. Paint choice is infinite – starting with the full Mulliner colour palette and travelling beyond into fully bespoke paint and even hand-painted graphics.
The aerodynamic additions of front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser can be crafted in both carbon fibre or new, sustainable Natural Fibre composite.
The exterior brightware can be any mix of light and dark, satin or gloss or even titanium. As per the first car, another option is graduated contrast colour to the front grille, for a vibrant ombre effect.
The Batur sits on unique 22” wheels, with the ‘standard’ option being painted in Black Crystal and then surface bright machined and polished. A darker option combines dark gloss faces with satin spokes, while customers can also choose to paint-match the wheels to the body with or without contrast finish, or to choose a totally different contrast colour.
The car revealed in Monterey has been specified to showcase the Batur’s form language. The exterior paintwork is a bespoke colour – Bonneville Pearlescent Silver – that provides flowing contrast across the curvaceous surfaces. The bodywork is underscored by carbon fibre front splitters, side skirts and rear diffuser painted in Black Crystal. The front of the car features a grille of exceptional art – with the main matrix finished in Gloss Dark Titanium, accented with contrast chevrons in a horizontal ombre pattern that flows from Hyperactive Orange in the centre and gradually darken to the sides to Black Crystal. The “endless bonnet” line is finished in Satin Titanium paint, as are the 22” wheels – with the spokes in Satin Dark Titanium to match the grille.
The two-seat interior space of the Batur is designed for ultimate personalisation and long-distance grand touring. Inspired by the success of the interior design of the Bacalar, the Batur builds on the core elements of the Bacalar’s cabin design and adds new sustainable luxury features.
Every element of the cabin is tailored to the customer’s specifications. Clients can choose from a variety of sustainable interior materials, including:
- Low-carbon leather sourced from Scotland, which travels significantly smaller distance than leather sourced from outside the UK.
- Sustainable tannage leather from Italy, in five different colours.
- Dinamica, an alternative suede-like sustainable material to leather.
The range of veneers available for the fascias include a new material for Bentley – Natural Fibre composite, which is a sustainable alternative to carbon fibre. Available as a 2×2 twill weave and finished in satin lacquer, the Natural Fibre composite brings a new sustainable texture to the cabin. Regardless of the veneer chosen, the passenger fascia panel is finished with a unique etching of the audio signature of the W12 engine – and bespoke etching is also available.
The final sustainable elements are the carpets, which are matched to the leather and made from recycled yarn, in a first for Bentley.
Clients will choose between bright or dark treatments to the interior brightware and titanium options are also available. Certain controls – like the organ stops for ventilation – are even available in 3D-printed 18K gold.
The interior of the launch Batur has been trimmed by hand in a stunning combination of black, red and orange – specifically, Beluga, Hotspur and Hyperactive. Beluga main hide is contrasted with new, even more sustainable low CO2 Mulliner Hyperactive Orange leather. A complementary texture is provided through the use of Dinamica – a suede-like alternative to leather – in both Beluga and Hotspur. Unique “Batur Chevrons” to the outer wings of the seats are finely embroidered by hand in Snap Orange thread, whilst the remainder of the upholstery carries a white thread in contrast throughout. The soft elements are completed with a new feathered artisan piping in Beluga, with Hyperactive Orange piping to the seat centres and a Hyperactive Orange finish to the lower spoke of the steering wheel.
The veneers to the Instrument Panel, fascias and doors are Gloss Black painted, with a ‘guitar fade’ to Fine Brodgar that flows from the fascias to the doors, before fading back to black. The fascia is completed with a unique piece of art – a laser-etched sound wave, which represents the unique sound generated by the W12 engine. The metallic elements of the interior are a blend of Black Anodised Aluminium and Satin Titanium, completed with a hallmarked 18 karat gold Bentley Dynamic Drive Selector and ‘12 o’clock’ steering wheel centre band.
The Batur features the most power engine yet fitted to a Bentley. The 6.0-litre W12 that started the rebirth of Bentley with the Continental GT in 2002 has been through several design iterations since, and is now the most advanced twelve-cylinder engine in the world. It has always been hand-crafted in Bentley’s carbon neutral factory in Crewe, England.
For the Batur, a new intake system, upgraded turbochargers, new intercoolers and extensive recalibration more than 740 PS and 1,000 Nm of torque, to deliver exceptional performance for this new pinnacle grand tourer. This development of the engine is in celebration of its achievements over 20 years, over which time it has been developed to produce nearly 40% more power while fuel economy has improved by 25%. For the Batur, the W12 is paired with Bentley’s eight-speed double-clutch transmission, and a sports exhaust to provide a soundtrack in keeping with the level of performance. The entire exhaust system is in titanium, while the finishers are 3D-printed in titanium in a first for Bentley.
As Bentley moves towards the era of electrification, the W12 is entering its twilight years. Before its retirement, this engineering masterpiece is worthy of commendation, and the Batur is the perfect home for the ultimate development of W12 performance.
