The third model from BYD’s Yangwang luxury-car brand – which may be solely electric, or use a range-extender hybrid drivetrain – is set to see Chinese sales in 2024 priced from more than $200,000.
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Chinese car giant BYD – which overtook Tesla to become the world’s biggest seller of electric cars in the final months of 2023 – has unveiled a $200,000 luxury sedan to take on competitors from Germany.
The U7 is the third production model from BYD’s Yangwang luxury brand, and is aimed at performance variants of the recently-introduced BMW i5 and Mercedes-Benz EQE electric luxury sedans.
It is due to go on sale in China during the second half of 2024. Australian arrival plans have not been confirmed, though other models in the Yangwang range – including the U8 SUV – are under consideration for local showrooms.
The new four-door model is based on BYD’s e4 platform – the same structure that underpins Yangwang’s U8 SUV and U9 supercar.
The styling of the U7 – created under the watch of former Audi design boss Wolfgang Egger – adopts from the U9, including flamboyant C-shaped headlamp graphics, structured flanks and full-width tail-lights.
It also reflects a family resemblance with other BYD models, including the Seal, and accommodates wheels of up to 21 inches in diameter.
BYD is yet to reveal the dimensions of the U7, though Chinese reports suggest it could stretch to up to 5.2 metres in length and two metres in width.
Officials from the Chinese car maker claim the new model will be among the most aerodynamically-efficient cars to enter production with a drag coefficient which, they claim, betters the i5 and EQE at 0.195.
In a social media post, BYD’s Yangwang brand described the U7 as a “NEV” or “New Energy Vehicle” – a term used by Chinese car makers to describe both plug-in hybrid and purely-electric models – and said it would offer over 1000 horsepower, or 746kW from four electric motors.
At this stage is not known if the new all-wheel-drive BYD sedan will feature a range-extender hybrid powertrain, as used by the U8 SUV, or a pure-electric drivetrain, as found in the U9 supercar.
The range-extender drivetrain of the U8 combines a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with four electric motors and a 49.1kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery.
It develops 880kW, with the petrol engine acting purely as a generator to charge the battery when required.
The pure electric drivetrain used to power the U9 uses four electric motors in combination with a 100kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, developing 820kW.
BYD says its new flagship Yangwang sedan will cost upwards of RMB1 million ($AU214,000) in China.
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