- The Geely Battleship 700 can drive short distances in the water thanks to two propellers at the rear.
- The vehicle can swim in water for 40 minutes, or float for up to two hours.
- It starts at just under $30,000 in China.
China’s car market is full of fun tech. Whether that's cars with karaoke machines or suspension systems that danc e, it’s not hard to find a Chinese EV or PHEV that does something completely fantastical. Yet, despite the abundance of futuristic (if sometimes gimmicky) tech, Chinese brands are still finding ways to one-up each other.
Case in point: Geely's latest SUV can act as a boat.
Believe it or not, the Battleship 700 isn't the only EV designed to float. Elon Musk famously wanted the Cybertruck to serve "briefly" as a boat in emergency situations. Chinese brands have made good on that promise.
BYD designed the Yangwang U8 SUV to float and actually move around should an owner find themselves in deep water. BYD bills this as an "emergency floating mode" that works for 30 minutes. The SUV's front wheels act as rudders, while the motors spin the wheels and give it a bit of locomotion. As nifty as that sounds, forward propulsion in the water isn’t so good, partially because wheels designed for the road can only do so much.
Designed with the newest safety innovations. YANGWANG U8.
— BYD (@BYDCompany) November 21, 2023
Emergency Floating Mode allows for the navigation through water during emergencies, by initiating a quick engine shutdown, raising the suspension elevation, closing windows, opening the sunroof, and displaying water depth… pic.twitter.com/l2ZaxRCPOt
Geely has an answer to that in the Battleship 700, its own Land Rover Defender-like big SUV that competes with the YangWang. The SUV has a full-blown propeller system, turning this off-road plug-in hybrid into something like a boat.
Geely calls this feature an emergency flotation and escape mode, meaning it's meant to protect occupants in a worst-case scenario and not a party trick for cruising across a lake. Here's how it works. In the water, two 11.5 horsepower propellers on the back of the vehicle—they look a lot like exhaust tips—can propel the vehicle to a little over 4 mph. The Battleship 700 also has sonar so you don’t run into anything in the water. On speed, it has the Yangwang U9 beat; that rival can reportedly churn through the water at about 2 mph.
As impressive as this is, the experience isn't unlimited. The Battleship 700 can “swim” in water for about 40 minutes, or float for up to two hours. Remember, this is less of a car-as-a-boat feature, but a safety feature meant to save the occupants in case the vehicle finds itself in a deep body of water.
For the rest of the time, when the Battleship 700 is on land, power comes from a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that works alongside three motors (two in the back, one in front). The SUV boasts a combined peak output of 1,113 horsepower. Those motors are fed by a 47.14 kWh battery. The combined range of the battery and gas engine is 1,100 miles, according to China’s CLTC cycle. Pricing for this model starts at just under $30,000, but can reach as high as $58,000 in China’s market.
The Battleship 700 has already gone on sale in China, but Geely has plans to export it to other markets, including Australia.
The ability to be a boat sometimes isn't the only strange feature Geely added. There’s also an oxygen-delivery system, which Geely claims can be used via a mask or in the cabin when traveling in high-altitude locations. It just goes to show: In China's cutthroat car market, features like AI assistants and in-car fridges can only dazzle buyers for so long before something better comes along.
