All-Electric Supercharged 4½ Litre Bentley Is a Half-Ton, Carbon Fiber City Car for $115K

Here’s the thing: Bentley is very fond of its historic heritage and never misses an opportunity to celebrate past achievements. That’s what the Blower Jnr is: a celebration of one of the most famous Bentleys of all time, the Supercharged 4½ Litre ‘Blower’ from the late twenties. It’s a scaled-down electric vehicle that looks almost identical to the original racer from 1929, at 85% of the size.

The conservative Brits handcrafted 700 parts for the replica; rest assured that the car is perfectly legal to drive on both sides of the Atlantic despite its toy-like stance. 3.7 meters long (12 feet) and 1.5 meters (five feet) wide, the Blower Jnr is too narrow for two occupants to sit abreast. Instead, Bentley’s engineers opted for a tandem seat arrangement: the driver takes the front seat, naturally, while the passenger has the rear seat.

The tribute Bentley is built on a 48V battery platform powering a 15kW (20 hp) electric motor mounted on the rear axle. The painted steel frame has a genuine chassis specification, with leaf springs and period-correct friction dampers. The stopping power of this 45-mph (72-kph) missile comes from the Brembo front discs and rear drums.

The rear part of the body is fabricated from carbon fiber (the original car used ash wood) covered with impregnated cloth. The hood now serves no particular purpose since the powertrain is at the back – it is hand-worked aluminum and strapped with leather harnesses. A tailored weekend bag fits behind the rear seat in the scaled-down ‘fuel tank’ secured with a lockable latch.

The signature trait of the 1929 Blower was its roots-type supercharger fitted to the front of the engine, and the Jnr reproduces it in high fidelity, but only in form. The casing between the front wheels is the charging port. The 10.8-kWh battery takes between 3 and 5 hours to fill and should last for a 65-mile/107 km low-speed joyride, depending on the drive style.

Three selectable power modes are available: Comfort (2 kW), Bentley (8 kW), or Sport (full power of 15 kW). The driver can switch from one driving mode to the other via the selector disguised as the fuel pressure pump of the 1929 original car.

Shifting in Drive, Reverse, or Neutral is achieved via the ‘ignition advance lever;’ the lights and turn signal controls replicate the magneto switches from the Team Car. The battery state of charge indicator is concealed in a gauge that copies the original ammeter.

The 21st-century touchups come with a USB port and a dual-function display. The screen is used for the Garmin GPS navigation and the rear-view camera. Due to its diminished size and lightweight materials, the car only weighs 550 kg (1,200 lbs), and prices start at £90,000/$114,550 (before taxes and shipping). The vehicle is available for the American market under the top speed-amending restriction of 25 mph (40 kph).

The first 99 examples of Blower Jnr will be 'First Edition Models,' with identifying badging on the hood, door sill plate, and dash and an engraved and numbered ‘1 of 99’ plaque. All First Edition models will be finished in Blower Green, with color-keyed chassis, wheels, and a hand-painted Union Jack on the sides. The seats and interior are Dark Green Lustrana leather – the same material used by Mulliner for the Blower Continuation Series (12 full-size replicas of the 1929 supercharged cars, built to the exact specifications of the originals).

The inspiration for this reduced-size electric-powered Bentley is a car built in 54 units in 1929 and 1930, with four reserved for racing. The limited specials featured a supercharger actuated directly by the crankshaft, designed to fit the purpose. The inline-four engine was highly advanced for its era, with an overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder.

In racing tune, the 4.5-liter plant developed 242 hp (245 PS) with forced induction, as opposed to the 130 hp (132 PS) of the naturally aspirated variant. The Blower was more powerful than the legendary Bentley Six, the 6.5-liter straight-six car that won Le Mans in 1929 and 1930. However, the supercharger addition came at a significant cost: the engine vaporized more than a gallon (four liters) of fuel at full speed every minute.

Its electrified spiritual successor has no such aspirations or needs, being a tame, quiet, and combustion-free creation. Bentley will display the electric Blower Jnr at the Retromobile classic event in France between January 31 and February 4 at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.