Check Out How Much Wiring Goes Into The Bentley Bentayga

By Scott Huntington - June 8, 2016

photo: car and driver

You may think that fuel is the only thing your car needs to operate properly. What many people don’t realize, however, is that a modern car’s electrical system plays an equal hand in how it runs.

Due to the countless features that rely on electric signals, these systems can get quite complex. Take, for example, the system used in the Bentley Bentayga — quite possibly the most elaborately wired car made to date.

Here are just some of the Bentayga’s features that rely on its incredible wiring harness:

12 parking sensors
4 radar systems
18-speaker stereo
6 cameras
suspension system
warming, cooling and massaging seats
champagne fridge
watch winder

To sweeten the deal, these items are all designed to be weatherproof through hot, cold, dusty, and wet situations, too.

Bentley prides themselves on the fact that their cars are highly customizable. That means that each car will have a different wiring harness. Peter Guest, the Bentayga product line director, says that each harness is shipped in on a pallet that’s nearly as big as the actual vehicle.

2017-Bentley-Bentayga-

Within all of these wires are seven networks that work at different paces to provide the information the car transfers to you. This includes interior temperature and vehicle performance, as well as familiar processes like running the headlights or powering the windows.

All of this information is integrated and shared throughout the entire Bentayga. Stuart White, who leads the development for the electrical system, told Car and Driver, “We don’t have one sensor for one function. Each sensor feeds information into several different functions.”

The technical name for the Bentayga’s network is “digital multiplex bus system.” In fact, it’s not just used in the Bentayga, but is standard in most production vehicles today. Believe it or not, it’s actually a simpler system than it looks.

Normally, signals travel individually through wires. The digital multiplex bus system fits multiple signals inside the same wire, thus reducing the need for a large amount of wiring. This cuts down both the size and weight of the system.

Bentley-Bentayga

Here’s some fast numbers about this wiring harness:

110 — how much the whole harness weighs in pounds. A standard, as-basic-as-you-can-get harness weighs under 10 pounds.

90 — the number of computers that exist in the Bentayga’s network.

100 million — how many lines of code that are used in the Bentayga. That’s a lot of code.

Interestingly, developing software for cars is one of the biggest challenges that face modern manufacturers. Thankfully, the networks we have now do a great job.