BYD teases specs for upcoming ultra-luxury electric sedan

BYD has launched some of the most affordable models in Australia and up until recently held the crown for having Australia’s cheapest EV, the Dolphin.

Now, BYD has unveiled a car on the other end of the EV pricing spectrum under its luxury Yangwang brand. This time around, it’s a large luxury sedan which it calls the U7 that will be competing with European and Chinese luxury brands.

The new Yangwang U7 is the first sedan from BYD’s luxury brand. According to Yangwang on Weibo, it’s expected to cost over $A200,000.

For that, you get a large sedan which according to Yangwang has a very low coefficient of drag at just 0.195. For comparison, the more aerodynamic Tesla Model 3 has a coefficient of drag of 0.219.

This will mean that with a well-designed powertrain, the new large sedan is expected to be more efficient than more boxier larger sedans.

The U7 is also expected to have over 1,000 hp or 745 kW of power and Yangwang’s latest e-technology system which is expected to allow precise power delivery while maintaining high safety levels in the vehicle.

Size-wise, the new U7 will be 5,265 mm in length which is comparable with large sedans. A BMW i5 and a Mercedes EQE fall around 5,000 mm in length, making the U7, a bigger vehicle from the outside.

This latest model is still months away from deliveries as it has not made it on the list of cars approved to be sold which is managed by the government department, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Often, cars reaching sales and production are discovered in the MIIT filings but the U7 appears to have been announced before a filing has been released.

Yangwang has released a sportier U9 hypercar-like vehicle which began sales in November according to reports from cnevpost. This car can sprint from 0-100 km/h in just 3 seconds.

Over 2,000 units have been delivered in just two months which is a bit of an achievement given its starting price also exceeds $A200,000.

Pricing and detailed specifications will start to appear closer to the launch which is expected in the coming months.