15 years ago, when the Effa M100 had its Long-Term Testing interrupted due to its proven lack of safety, BYD was manufacturing copies of Toyota cars while perfecting its electric and hybrid car technology. Now the company has a partnership with Toyota to manufacture electric cars and, in the fourth quarter of 2023, it overtook Tesla as the leader in the electric car segment in the world.

Just when the spotlight was on itself, BYD launched its high-luxury sub-brand, Yangwang. The name in Chinese, which means “to look up” in a context of admiration, may almost be a thank you, but it represents a concern with the added value of its cars.

It was the Dolphin and Seagull that took BYD to the podium, but now it needs cars with high added value to pay the bills. The first of them is the Yangwang U8, which we were able to see in Shenzhen, China. It will also be accompanied by the U9 electric super sports car, which is in the final phase of development and promises 1,300 hp of power and 700 km of autonomy.

The Yangwang U8 not only brings together everything that BYD is capable of today in terms of technologies but also provokes reactions of amazement and admiration at its appearance. This jeep normalizes, for example, the fact that it can rotate on its own axis or move each axle of the car laterally as strategies of its automatic parking assistant.

It also has the ability to navigate for up to 30 minutes at 3 km/h, using its four engines to move when submerged (the immersion capacity even increases from 1 m to 1.40 m with a snorkel). But this is for an emergency condition, such as flooding, to the point where the sunroof opens to be an escape route and the car needs to visit a dealership immediately to check the tightness of its electrical systems.

All of this, as if the dimensions and design of the BYD U8 (it's better to call it that, as it will probably have a Western name in the future) weren't enough to attract attention. It is somewhat exotic due to the shape of its headlights, lanterns and bodywork elements, but it also draws attention to its similarity with the Defender 130. In fact, its size is the same: it is 5.32 m long, 3.05 m long. m on the wheelbase.

The projections on the ceiling are thoughtful. There are three laser radars (LIDAR), which work together with ultrasonic sensors, 13 cameras and 3 wave radars under the command of an Nvidia Orin processor with a processing capacity of 508 teraflops to provide level 2 autonomous assistance. At BYD U8, all systems have their processing centralized on this processor.

Inside, however, the U8 has nothing to do with other BYD cars. The center console appears to fold over the dashboard and uses a 12.8” curved screen as the entertainment and control center. The driver's 23.6" screen is touch-sensitive, with light controls and engine operating modes on the left, and is complemented by an augmented reality head-up display with high-resolution, color projection.

To entertain passengers, the passenger has a screen like the driver, where he can even watch movies, and there are two 14” screens for the second row. In fact, this is a car with only five seats, but ready to be limited to four: folding down the central backrest reveals a control screen for the electrical adjustment of the rear seats, lighting, air conditioning (with a flow that also comes out of the central columns ) and the sound system from the Danish brand Dynaudio, with 22 speakers.

The terracotta interior may not be to everyone's taste, but the Nappa leather upholstery delights the touch. Only the ceiling and columns are covered in a type of suede (synthetic similar to suede). As in some Defender and Range Rover, the trunk has electrical controls for lowering the suspension and folding the rear seats, as well as sockets. It also has electric running boards and door suction.

The U8 is powered by four electric motors, one per wheel, with 299 hp each. Peak delivery is 1,196 hp and 130.5 kgfm. But its battery of just 49.5 kWh guarantees a range of just 180 km (in the optimistic Chinese cycle). The secret to the 1,000 km range is having a 2.0 turbo engine just to generate energy, without connection to the wheels, with a 75 liter tank available.

To guarantee the off-road capability that the appearance and technical resources suggest, there is torque vectoring at each wheel, mechanical locks on the front and rear differentials, in addition to the Disus-P adaptive hydraulic suspension, one of the highlights of the E4 platform. In addition to real-time suspension management, it is capable of varying height by up to 15 cm.

By centralizing the electronics in one module, the suspension and engines can work together to ensure that the car runs at up to 120 km/h even with a flat tire. The secret is that the engine on the same side of the tire that is punctured applies more force than the others.

Even with so many extraordinary functions, the first contact with the U8 was quite restricted. Basically, you could see how the suspension struggles to compensate for the movement of the car's body, which weighs 3,460 kg. More than that: even the air pockets on the sides of the seats, which could adjust the way the seat hugs the driver, inflate to contain the movement of the body.

They did not allow the engines to be tested with strong acceleration, which would be enough to take the U8 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, according to BYD. But you could notice the quick response of the accelerator and how it doesn't show, at the wheel, how much the car weighs.

Four Wheels Verdict – The U8 still has to prove its off-road capabilities, but it has already made it clear that, in terms of technology, China has already “arrived there”.

Technical sheet – BYD Yangwang U8 Price: R$1,500,000 (estimated) Engine: 4 electric, one per wheel, asynchronous, 299 hp each, 1,196 total hp, 130.5 kgfm; 1,999 cm3 gasoline generator Battery: lithium iron phosphate, 49 kWh Load: max power 110 kW (DC) Transmission: automatic, 1 gear, 4×4 Steering: electric, 11.5 m Suspension: double A (front), multi-link (rear) Brakes: four-wheel ventilated disc Tires: 275/50 R22 Dimensions: length, 531.9 cm; width, 205 cm; height, 193 cm; wheelbase, 305 cm; weight, 3,460 kg Performance*: 0 to 100 km/h, 3.6 s; speed. max., 200 km/h; auton., 180 km (electric) 1,000 km (extended)

*Factory data