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Bentley creates buzz with 'flying bees,' enters honey business

Bentley’s Crewe factory has bees now. Yes, itÂ’s the same Bentley as the one youÂ’re thinking of. TheyÂ’re called “flying bees.” WeÂ’ll hand it to Bentley, thatÂ’s a solid name. This means the British luxury car maker is officially getting into the honey business. We joke, but there will definitely be Bentley-branded honey as a by-product of this nature venture. The bee announcement came in a press release. In total, Bentley is adding 120,000 honey bees to live in two massive (Bentley-branded) hives. Bentley says that amount of bees is capable of producing about 33 pounds of honey per year, which Bentley claims is about 50 jars worth. How much will a jar of Bentley honey cost? Considering how exclusive itÂ’ll be, we imagine itÂ’s more than you can afford, pal. Onwards to the real reason Bentley is doing this. ItÂ’s part of a biodiversity initiative Bentley continues to work toward. “Bee populations are in decline in the U.K., so installing two hives to help boost biodiversity is a great way to make use of the grassland at the edge of the site. Our ‘flying beesÂ’ are honey bees that have been bred by local beekeepers with over 50 yearsÂ’ experience. With their help, weÂ’re checking on them every week and itÂ’s great to see that theyÂ’re already starting to produce the first Bentley honey,” Bentley said in a statement. The hives were installed far from the actual manufacturing facility on site, so you likely wonÂ’t be met with any unexpected guests upon taking delivery of your Bentley. You might remember that Ford hopped on the bee game first a few years back. Even if itÂ’s a small effort, itÂ’s always cool to see anyone trying to save the bees. We donÂ’t want to be caught in a Black Mirror-like situation with mechanical, autonomous bees doing the work for us after all.

The Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept is the gentleman's open-air electric tourer

The ever-present pressure exerted by increasing fuel economy and emissions standards is forcing automakers worldwide to re-examine their traditional internal combustion lineups. In order to gauge customer interest, Bentley brought the all-electric EXP 12 Speed 6e to the Geneva Motor Show. The drop-top concept shows Bentley's vision of an electrified future and what it envisions a battery-powered luxury touring car will be. Bentley believes any electric vehicle that wears the flying B should be as capable as the equivalent gas-powered model. That means London to Paris or Milan to Monaco on a single charge. Filling the battery should be effortless, which is why they want inductive charging, negating the need for cables. There is one for those times inductive charging isn't available. Most of all, the electric motors should supply effortless amounts of torque, just like the current lineup of Bentley eight and 12-cylinder engines. The interior of the EXP 12 Speed 6e is both futuristic and distinctly Bentley. High-quality leather and copper trim cover most services while a large OLED display houses most of the car's controls. The half-cut steering wheel uses glass elements embedded with various buttons and controls. The cut sections feature controls a performance boost and one for a speed limiter for use in urban areas. The copper elements continue outside, highlighting various trim elements around the car. When in motion, there is a large "6" that illuminates within the grille. The design is similar to the Continental GT prototype we spied a few weeks ago, which in turn takes elements from a previous Bentley concept, the EXP 10 Speed 6. It will be interesting to see how well customers receive the concept. Rolls-Royce brought out similar vehicle awhile back. Reception was icy, but the two automakers do have a different customer base. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bentley EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept: Geneva 2017 View 14 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Geneva Motor Show Bentley Convertible Electric 2017 Geneva Motor Show

Bentley bringing Flying Spur V8, upgraded Continental GT Speed to Geneva

Until the new Falcon sport-ute comes along, Bentley is still a brand that revolves around two model lines: the Mulsanne, which is available essentially in one form, and the Continental family, which is available in many. The Flying B marque has traditionally offered the V8 version in two specifications and the W12 in three, and packaged them into three different bodystyles. With the Geneva Motor Show fast approaching, Bentley is rolling out two more.
First up is the Flying Spur which, despite having dropped the Continental from its name, is still based on the same. Bentley opted to skip the base W12 version when it introduced the new Flying Spur at last year's Geneva show, going straight for the more powerful version that would otherwise wear the Speed moniker. But now it's bringing a V8 version to the Swiss auto expo.
In addition to the W12, the Flying Spur will now be offered with Bentley's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8. For the time being at least, Crewe is offering it in the base, 500-horsepower spec, and not with the more potent 521-hp from the Continental GT V8 S, but we're still looking at a 0-60 time of 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 183 mph. And that's pretty fast for a four-door sedan, no matter which way you cut it. Power is channeled once again to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission, riding on an air suspension. There's a Mulliner Driving Specification package to make it even more derirable, the reduced weight in the nose ought to make it handle better, and with cylinder deactivation, promises to deliver much better fuel economy.