The Chinese automobile group BYD has landed at the Geneva Motor Show with all its artillery. Beyond exhibiting the models of the eponymous brand, such as the Seal U, it has also shown products from other brands of the company. And the big star has been the Yangwang U8, a luxurious large plug-in hybrid SUV that can float in the event of an accident in the water. Of course, for a limited time. According to the company itself, it can do so for half an hour and, in addition, it is designed to navigate at 3 km/h.
This enormous car (it measures 5.32 meters in length) has four electric motors that, each coupled to a wheel, manage to develop a total power of almost 1,200 HP. The 2.0 turbocharged gasoline block serves to extend the vehicle’s autonomy, that is, it is only responsible for generating additional electricity.
With the 75-liter fuel tank full and the 49.05 kWh battery fully charged, the U8 can travel up to a thousand kilometers. With a top speed of 200 km/h, it can accelerate from 0 to 100 in just 3.6 seconds.
Another feature of the Yangwang U8 is that it can turn on itself at low speed and can move laterally like a crab, which makes some parking maneuvers easier.
At the moment, the SUV is only for sale in China, although BYD does not rule out exporting it to other markets. “This vehicle could perhaps reach certain European markets with limited distribution, but not necessarily exactly in its current form,” BYD’s head of marketing in France, Guillaume Calvar, told Reuters.
The company has stated that since it began deliveries of the car in November until the end of January, it had sold a total of 3,653 units of the U8, which is priced at 1.098 million yuan ($152,550) in China.
The automaker also unveiled the Yangwang U9 supercar in China in Geneva on Sunday and opened pre-orders with a starting price of 1.68 million yuan.