Bentley has issued a recall for a limited number of Bentayga Hybrid SUVs after Samsung SDI, the supplier of the vehicle’s 18 kWh high-voltage battery cells, alerted the automaker to a potential battery pack fault.
The affected vehicles, all manufactured between September 13 and September 28, 2023, may have battery cells that risk overheating during charging, which in rare cases could lead to a fire. Bentley emphasizes that no incidents, injuries, or fires have been reported to date, but the defect represents a legitimate safety concern.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall documentation, the overheating could result from two potential manufacturing issues: particle contamination and separator damage within the battery cells. Either defect can trigger a short circuit, increasing the likelihood of thermal runaway. The recall affects a total of 130 Bentayga Hybrid units.
Bentley expects that fewer than one percent of these vehicles will actually require battery replacement. To identify at-risk packs, the company will install updated software onto the Battery Management Controller, which can detect self-discharge conditions and determine whether individual batteries or modules need to be replaced. Most vehicles are expected to pass this software screening without requiring a new battery.
Bentley first became aware of similar high-voltage battery concerns in October 2023 with another Volkswagen Group brand, but no issues were reported in the Bentayga Hybrid at that time, so no recall was issued. However, as additional battery-related faults were reported across other VW Group models, Bentley’s Product Safety Committee reconsidered the situation.
The recall is ultimately preventive, aiming to resolve potential risks before they result in safety incidents, ensuring that the Bentayga Hybrid maintains the high standard of engineering expected in a luxury SUV priced well over $200,000.
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