BYD Yangwang says luxury sedan U7 coming soon

Yangwang said it has completed development and testing of the DiSus-Z body control system, which would soon follow the U7 to market.

The U7, a sedan priced in the RMB 1 million range, went on pre-sales last November.

Yangwang, the ultra-luxury sub-brand of BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY), announced today that its new model, the U7 luxury sedan, would be launched soon, after pre-sales began last November.

“The never-before-seen DiSus-Z has now completed its development and testing, and will soon meet you with the launch of the Yangwang U7,” Yangwang wrote on Weibo today.

Yangwang shared a new video on Weibo yesterday showing the Yangwang U7’s ability to maintain a smooth ride over bumpy roads.

DiSus is a body control system unveiled by BYD on April 10, 2023, when three branches were announced — DiSus-C, an intelligent vibration-damping body control system; DiSus-A, an intelligent air body control system; and DiSus-P, an intelligent hydraulic body control system.

DiSus-Z is a brand-new branch of the DiSus system and is the most high-end.

The U7 would be the first model to feature DiSus-Z, a system that allows the vehicle to offer ride comfort beyond that of a maglev, Yangwang previously said.

On January 21, Yangwang shared a video on Weibo showing a player controlling the U7’s suspension system from a phone, which allows a small ball to get out of a maze placed on the roof of the vehicle.

Yangwang said at the time that this was a challenge done with the support of DiSus-Z, demonstrating the sensitivity of the body control system.

DiSus-Z technology gives the Yangwang U7’s chassis millisecond-level vertical adjustment, the brand’s general manager for sales, Hu Xiaoqing, said on Weibo today.

“We’ve not only redefined comfort in a flagship sedan, but we’ve made ‘like walking on the flat ground’ an everyday occurrence,” Hu wrote.

Whether it’s a bumpy road, or a sudden speed bump, the Yangwang U7 is able to make quick adjustments with DiSus-Z to keep the car smooth at all times, she said.

This “land maglev” like feeling is a revolution that traditional mechanical suspensions can’t match, Hu said.

“We are accelerating the leap forward in intelligence with the precision control of full electrification,” she added.

Yangwang unveiled the U7 on January 10, 2024, saying at the time that the model would be a new energy flagship sedan in the RMB 1 million ($138,000) class.

The U7 would have more than 1,000 horsepower and would feature BYD’s e4 technology, which would provide precise control, Yangwang said at the time.

Yangwang released some of the U7’s specifications on January 11 last year, showing the model’s length, width and height to be 5,265 mm, 1,998 mm and 1,517 mm, respectively, with a wheelbase of 3,160 mm.

The sedan’s wind resistance of Cd 0.195 was the lowest among production sedans worldwide, Yangwang said at the time.

A few days later, the model entered a regulatory catalog issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on January 15, 2024, which showed that the car is powered by four permanent magnet synchronous motors, each with a peak power of 240 kW.

The U7 weighs 3,095 kg and supports a top speed of 270 km/h, according to its filing.

Yangwang gave the U7 its real-life debut in late April 2024 at the Beijing auto show.

Last November 15, Yangwang began pre-sales of the U7 on the first day of the 2024 Guangzhou auto show, with pricing information not available.

Yangwang is offering both battery electric vehicle (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) variants of the U7, and customers need to pay 20,000 yuan ($2,770) to pre-order.

The Yangwang U7 BEV is powered by a battery pack with a capacity of 135.5 kWh, a high-performance blade battery pack exclusive to the model, with a peak discharge current of up to 1,700 A, and capable of delivering a CLTC range of 720 kilometers, the brand said at the time.

The model supports simultaneous charging with two charging guns up to 500 kW, capable of charging from 30 percent to 80 percent in 20 minutes.

Yangwang is a sub-brand announced by BYD on January 5, 2023 to target the ultra-luxury market priced in the RMB 1 million range.

The brand has already launched the U8 off-road SUV (sport utility vehicle), as well as the U9 electric supercar.

As of the end of February, Yangwang had delivered a total of 9,846 vehicles since vehicle deliveries began in November 2023, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.