China’s largest automaker BYD—short for Build Your Dreams—seems to be on an everlasting expansion spree. After a record-breaking sales year, surpassing Tesla as the world's largest EV seller, BYD has now set its sights on entering luxury segments.
The automaker has a range of suave-looking models in the pipeline under a new brand name, YangWang—similar to what Lexus is to Toyota. Under YangWang, BYD revealed several swanky models last year. And many of them flaunted unique and quirky features.
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BYD is turning its attention to luxury EVs.
BYD, the world's largest EV maker that democratized and proliferated plug-in cars in China and several other markets, now has a bunch of fancy-looking models under the new YangWang brand.
The U8 is a Land Rover Defender-esque off-roader that can do tank turns in Mercedes EQG style, while the U9 supercar can jump off the ground thanks to a sophisticated suspension system called Disus. We don't know the tricks the YangWang U7 can pull yet. But what we do know is that it's an all-electric luxury performance sedan, one that's hard to ignore.
The sedan is equipped with a 135.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-iron-phosphate battery made by FinDreams, a BYD subsidiary, CarNewsChina reported. The battery alone tips the scale at 1,990 pounds—nearly a third of the sedan's curb weight of 6,823 pounds.
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has revealed that under the China Light Duty Vehicle Test Cycle, the U7’s range is 497 miles and 447 miles, respectively. CLTC figures are overly optimistic, even more so than Europe’s WLTC. They are typically 35% higher than EPA estimates. So the EPA-equivalent range would be around 323 miles and 291 miles approximately.
The YangWang U7 is propelled by quad-electric motors. The total power output is a whopping 960 kilowatts or 1,287 horsepower, putting it in the league of the Lucid Air Sapphire. The top speed is 167 miles per hour.
Also impressive is how slippery it is. With just 0.195 Cd, it is more aerodynamic than some of the most posh luxury performance sedans out there, including the Lucid Air Pure and Touring (0.197), Mercedes EQS (0.20), Nio ET7 (0.208 Cd), Tesla Model S Plaid (0.208 Cd), and even the Porsche Taycan (0.22 Cd).
BYD is considering launching the YangWang brand in Europe with a different name—although it’s unclear if the U7 will make it. The Chinese automaker currently offers five models in Europe: the Dolphin hatchback, Seal and Han electric sedans, and the Atto 3 SUV and Tang SUVs. For now, BYD might only export the U8 SUV to Europe, as per Automotive News.
The YangWang U7 will enter the Chinese market this year to compete with Mercedes-EQS, BMW i7, Nio ET9, and others. BYD is yet to announce the U7’s prices.
