BYD, one of the main Chinese manufacturers of electric cars, and incidentally a fierce competitor to Tesla, has just presented the Yangwang U7. Behind this name hides a luxury electric sedan with XXL dimensions and impressive performance. We take stock of the manufacturer’s promises.
Slowly, but surely, BYD is starting to make a name for itself on the French market. The Chinese brand already offers six models in its French catalog which covers most categories. We obviously have the small Dolphin, a compact city car that is rather honest in its offering, but also the BYD Seal and BYD Han for sedans, or the BYD Seal U for electric SUV enthusiasts.
Of course, the world leader in electric batteries is also seeking to establish itself in the segment of large luxury sedans and wattage limousines, with the Tesla Model S Plaid in its sights. And in fact, the manufacturer has just revealed at the Beijing Motor Show the Yangwang U7an impressive car in many ways.
A monster of power
Thus, to hope to compete with the 1020 horsepower and three engines of the American, this gigantic sedan (5,265 meters long, almost 2 meters wide and 3,160 meters wheelbase) goes “under the hood” four motors for an estimated power of 1300 horsepower alone (960 kW)! According to the brand, these characteristics allow it to reach 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds and display a cruising speed of 270 km/h. On these two specific points, the Model S Plaid still remains ahead with its 0 to 100 km/h achieved in 2.1 seconds and its 322 km/h maximum speed.
Regardless, the Yangwang U7 intends to stand out in other areas. Thus, the sedan prides itself on offering the lowest aerodynamic drag coefficient in the worldhas namely 0.195 Cx at a speed of 120 km/h. As a reminder, the Cd of the Model S Plaid is 0.208. Its suspensions also risk attracting attention. Like the future Nio ET9 which is capable of using its suspensions to make the car vibrate, those of the U7 are also completely independent of each other.
In a promotional video (available above), we better understand the interest of this technology, which guarantees extraordinary stability and the removal of all roughness from the road. In other words, no shaking expected on board for passengers. Furthermore, the suspensions have a energy recovery mechanism. Like regenerative braking, the suspensions will therefore be able to power the battery when they are in action.
Concerning autonomy and recharging power, you will unfortunately have to wait a little. BYD preferred to keep this information quiet for the moment. According to previous leaks, the Yangwang U7 would have a 135.5 kWh LFP battery! Enough to offer a significant autonomy of 800 km in Chinese CLTC cycle. As for the price and availability in Europe, the vagueness also remains. We know that it will be launched in the Middle Kingdom in the second half of 2024, at a price probably above one million yuan, or almost 130,000 euros. We can therefore easily count on a significantly higher price on the French market.
Source: Weibo