Prices start at RMB 628,000 with both PHEV and EV versions available and four- or five-seat variants.
BYD has officially unveiled the Yangwang U7, the third model in the premium brand’s line-up, and the first saloon, boasting a host of premium features and supercar levels of power.
Previewed various times over the past 12 months at various auto shows, the U7’s official launch has been a long time coming but is perhaps just in time, with Yangwang’s sales sliding consistently over the past few months to around 250 in February.
Priced from RMB 628,000 (£66,800 / $86,400) for the five-seat variant, and RMB 708,000 (£75,300 / $97,500) for the four-seat version, the U7 comes with a choice of drivetrains, with either a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant sporting a 2.0-litre, 200kW / 360Nm boxer engine in conjunction with four electric motors, or a standard electric version with just the motors.
The boxer engine, BYD claims, is the first four-cylinder boxer engine ever used in a Chinese car and was chosen for its low design which enables Yangwang to keep the bonnet of the U7 as low as possible for a drag co-efficient of 0.195Cd.
In PHEV form, the U7, with motors on each wheel producing 240kW of power and 396Nm of torque each, plus the engine, boasts a combined output of 1,160kW and 2,060Nm of torque, or 1,555hp in old money. Without the engine, it’s just the 960kW (1,287hp) and 1680Nm of torque on tap.
That helps the U7 on to a 0-100kph sprint of 2.9 seconds, quick by most standards but a little slow given the power, that figure not aided by the car’s 3.2-tonne kerb weight.
As an EV, the U7 gets a seriously chonky 135.5kWh battery pack, good for 720km of range on the CLTC cycle, and a 30-80 percent charge time of 20 minutes. It’ll also support double-gun charging, meaning you can plug two chargers in for a peak charging of 500kW, somewhat short of the 1000kW BYD just rolled out to the Han L and Tang L BYD models.
In hybrid form, a 52.4kWh Blade battery provides an electric range of 200km and 1000km of combined range which, again, isn’t exactly groundbreaking but given the weight of the car, perhaps more understandable.
Like with the Yangwang U8 and U9, the U7 can perform tank turns and crab walks, but the most interesting feature of the U7 might be the inclusion of the DiSus-Z body control system which BYD claims offers a ride quality better than that of a maglev train.
Combined with the God’s Eye A hardware package for autonomous driving, the U7 can scan the road ahead of the vehicle and prepare the suspension accordingly, offering what, on videos at least, seems to be similarly smooth speed bump handling to the NIO ET9.
It’ll also enable the car to drive on three wheels with a damaged wheel lifted off the ground for 30km at 80kph, surely a rarely required skill but one that might just get you to the next motorway service station if you get a puncture on the go.
Of course with God’s Eye A included, which should include triple lidar units, five millimetre wave radars and 13 high-definition cameras, the U7 gets BYD’s top-of-the-line DiPilot 600 software, making the U7 capable of urban and highway autonomous driving, powered by twin NVIDIA Orin-X chips.
Styling-wise, the U7 gets similar treatment to the U9 supercar, albeit with the large headlights making for quite a pointy nose. It’s certainly long and sleek, 5,265mm for the EV version and 5,360mm for the PHEV, which opens up wheelbases of 3,160mm and 3,200mm respectively.
That makes for quite the cabin, with three screens up front, including a pair of 23.6-inch embedded screens sitting either side of a more square-shaped 12.8-inch OLED central screen.
In addition, the U7 gets an AR head-up display for the driver, and a pair of 12.8-inch screens in the rear for passenger entertainment.
There’s also a 23-speaker Dynaudio sound system, which by most standards would be an impressive tally but up against the NIO ET9’s 35-speaker system feels almost spartan.
Front seats come with 20-way adjustment, Nappa leather, and the usual heating, ventilation, and massaging functions, while rear seats, at least on the four-seat version, should be about 16 or 18-way adjustable with heating extending into the armrests on the doors.
In the back, a pair of large tray tables emerges from the centre console, while a cooling / heating storage unit between the rear seats can store posh water bottles and other things.
There’s an additional screen on the armrest, likely for controlling seating functions, storage under the centre console, and a fragrance package to boot.
The U7 also comes with the option of digital side mirrors, with screens built into the doors to replace the physical mirrors.
