Bentley unveils carbon fiber workwear for EV factory safety, sustainability

Bentley has turned factory uniforms into part of the EV safety system. On 16 April 2026, the brand launched next-generation workwear for electrostatically protected areas at Crewe, using carbon fibre components to help dissipate static around sensitive battery and electronic systems, and the rollout touched about 3,000 colleagues.

This is not a cosmetic refresh. Bentley says the collection was built for the first battery electric vehicle to come out of Crewe, and it treats clothing like a piece of production equipment: durable enough for the shop floor, flexible enough to move, and comfortable enough to wear all shift. The project was managed by Bentley industrial placement colleague Clevin John, which fits the company’s co-created pitch. The whole range was shaped around four principles, co-created, future-focused, inclusive and high-tech, and the silhouettes were updated with a wider spread of fits and sizing options.

The interesting part is how much workwear thinking is hiding inside the sustainability message. Bentley added a dedicated recycling scheme designed to keep the uniforms out of landfill at end of life, a smart move when a uniform is expected to do more than look consistent on the line. The brand is also framing the rollout as a first in the industry for all-inclusive ESD-compliant workwear, which matters because EV production changes the problem set. Battery systems are far more sensitive to static than old-school metal-bending assembly lines, so the clothes themselves have to be engineered for the environment they are entering.

Crewe gives that story real weight. Bentley says more than 4,000 colleagues work at the factory, where all Bentley models are built, and the site has been certified 100% carbon neutral since 2018 under PAS 2060. More than 36,000 solar panels now power the site, and the broader operation includes green logistics and a future-focused manufacturing campus as part of the Dream Factory transformation.

The workwear rollout sits inside Beyond100+, Bentley’s plan for a fully electric future beyond 2030. Back in January 2022, Bentley said its first battery electric vehicle would be developed and built in the United Kingdom, committed £2.5 billion to sustainability over 10 years, and said the first BEV would roll off the line in 2025. The uniform update is the cleaner, sharper proof that the EV shift is not just changing how Bentley builds cars. It is changing what the workers have to wear to build them.