Shanghai Auto Show: U8’s crab walk is ‘all that anybody can remember’ as BYD bets on Yangwang luxury EVs to climb the value chain

The U8 has a massive 1,100 horsepower engine and four wheel-side motors that can rotate the electric SUV in a tank turn, and even crab walk sideways
The U9 is a sleek super car that can accelerate to 100km/h in two seconds flat, putting it a tenth of a second ahead of Tesla’s Model S Plaid as the fastest EV

BYD

Lilian Zhang

Published: 6:30pm, 20 Apr 2023

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BYD’s Yangwang series, the first million-yuan electric vehicles (EVs) by an assembler better known for its low-priced models, has generated the loudest buzz and become the biggest crowd-puller at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show.

Visitors waited in long queues for up to 30 minutes to get close to BYD’s U8 luxury sports-utility vehicle (SUV) and its U9 supercar, on display at an exhibition space near Porsche, Lamborghini and other global marques.

For 1.098 million yuan (US$159,000), the U8’s appearance evokes comparisons with the Range Rover. It can get to 100km/h from standstill in 3.6 seconds, with a massive 1,100-horsepower engine and four wheel-side motors that can rotate the vehicle in a so-called tank turn, even crab-walk sideways, according to its demonstration video. It has a sealed undercarriage that lets it drive in water.

Not to be outdone, the U9 is an all-electric super sports car that promises to accelerate to 100km/h from standstill in two seconds flat. That would put it a tenth of a second ahead of Tesla’s Model S Plaid, as the world’s fastest EV.

BYD’s founder and chairman Wang Chuanfu unveiled the Yangwang U8 luxury SUV. Photo: Handout

Also equipped with wheel-side motors, the U9 can perform a hop, and even run on three wheels, according to its demonstration video. Spectators broke into spontaneous applause when the model was unveiled.

Yangwang, which translates to “longing,” is the clearest display of founder Wang Chuanfu’s aspiration to carve out a spot at the apex of China’s vehicle market, after BYD overtook Tesla to cement its position as the world’s largest electric car (EV) seller in 2022. The Yangwang brand is the antipode of the Shenzhen carmaker’s Dynasty and Ocean series, which are all priced below 400,000 yuan for China’s middle-class customers.

BYD's Yangwang U8 luxury SUV at the Auto Shanghai motor show in Shanghai on April 18, 2023. Photo: Kyodo

The Shenzhen-based carmaker is not alone in this climb to the top. Red Flag, the flagship limousine used by China’s leaders from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping, has an ultra-luxury SUV called the LS7, priced from 1.36 million yuan.

“With their growing competitiveness in new energy and intelligence technologies, it is inevitable for some Chinese car brands to enter and gradually gain a foothold in the luxury car market,” said Liao Xuhua, an analyst from the consulting firm Analysys. “Cars priced over 300,000 yuan need to provide sufficient added value to impress customers, not simply the utility, and Yangwang has achieved this goal.”

Orders are already trickling in for the U8 for delivery to begin in September, BYD executives said. That gets it to the market sooner than Mercedes-Benz’s EQG concept, the all-electric version of the G-Class SUV that also can perform a tank turn with its four independently operated in-wheel motors, first unveiled in 2021.

A Master Edition of U8 is due for release later this year for customers who want to test its off-road credentials, they said.

A handout photograph of BYD’s Yangwang U9 all-electric supercar. Photo: Handout

Many people are “just curious how well BYD can do in luxury cars,” said the Douyin live-streamer Zhennihuahua. “But there’s no doubt that its technological capabilities are impressive, as the [U8] incorporates many of BYD’s existing [capabilities] with new technologies.”

The Yangwang series, with a logo representing the Chinese oracle-bone inscription for “electricity,” promises to offer “excellent safety, performance and experience to customers even in extreme driving conditions,” the carmaker’s founder Wang said.

BYD, which only began making vehicles in 2003, did not abandon its mainstay customers. In a separate exhibition hall, it released a prototype of its Song L electric SUV under its flagship Dynasty series. The budget friendly Ocean series added the Destroyer 07 hybrid sedan, and an updated version of the Seagull minicar with a price tag of 78,000 yuan.

BYD also announced a partnership with the artificial intelligence chip designer Horizon Robotics to integrate Journey 5 computer chips into its vehicles for autonomous driving solutions.

For now, the U8’s crab-walk and tank turn are all that anybody can remember.

“You cannot find another company that offers similar crab-walking abilities, so just that feature alone is worth 500,000 yuan, as far as I am concerned,” said the Douyin live-streamer Please Call Me Kelisisi, adding that BYD’s models have “amazed” him. “In the past, we thought only a few auto companies could make grand-tourers, but now BYD has done it, it’s truly a milestone for the company.”