BYD U8

The U8 was released by BYD Auto under the Yangwang brand in January 2023 and was confirmed for Australian release by late-2025. This series-hybrid electric vehicle had its petrol engine acting as a range extender.

The ground-breaking BYD U8 Chinese wagon bristled with innovations and was not aimed at the mass market. In its home market the Premium edition sold for around A$220,000, so its intended market target was quite obviously Range Rover, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW SUVs.

Obviously, such an expensive vehicle wouldn’t ever be a mass seller, but it sent a clear message to established luxury brands. In the words of Annie Get Your Gun: “Anything you can do I can do better!”.

The U8 Off-road Master Edition was equipped with off-road additions, including a remodelled front bumper, a snorkel and detachable roof rack with side ladder.

The U8 featured BYD’s proprietary ‘e’ individual-wheel drive technology, employing four separate electric motors, each propelling a single wheel. 

This technology was said to allow the traction control system to proportion wheel torque individually and maintain stability of the vehicle; even in the case of a tyre blow-out at speed. 

This e-tech also allowed the U8 to use differential drive in tight spots, by having the left and right wheels spin in opposite directions on loose or slippery surfaces – so called ‘tank turns’. It could also drive completely sideways – ‘crab walk’ – on these surfaces.

The U8 came with Disus-P active suspension that could adapt to different road conditions and react to driving-mode inputs. It could also increase ground clearance by 150mm.

The U8 Premium Edition was claimed capable of wading in one-metre deep water and the snorkel-equipped Off-road Master Edition could wade up to 1400mm. 

BYD sensibly discouraged water crossings and insisted that wading be done only as a last resort in emergency situations, such is when flash-flooding occurred. 

A extension of wading mode was emergency-floating mode. In this mode, when the suspension feedback indicated complete loss of tyre traction, the vehicle was designed to shut down its petrol engine, while the Disus-P system raised the suspension to the maximum level. At the same time, the windows were closed automatically, the air conditioner was switched to internal circulation mode and the sunroof was opened to provide an emergency exit. 

The U8 was claimed capable of staying afloat for 30 minutes and move forward under electric power at 3km/h. Check out the video:

The U8’s dashboard had three screens, including a 23.6-inch instrument panel display for the driver; a vertical 12.8-inch central control infotainment touchscreen and another 23.6-inch infotainment screen for the front passenger. The driver also had a 70-inch augmented-reality, head-up display.

Two screens were mounted on the back of the front seats for the rear passengers and another screen was mounted on the console between the rear seats. 

Other in-car technologies included three mobile phone wireless chargers, a thermographic camera and an integrated satellite phone.

The centre console had a built-in compressor fridge/freezer that could also function as a food heater, so the food box could maintain temperatures between -6 and 50°C.

The U8 used the Nvidia Drive Orin system-on-a-chip (SoC) for its Level 2 advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) and there were 38 sensors around the vehicle, including 13 cameras, 12 ultrasonic

The U8’s range-extender was a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine that was not mechanically connected to the wheels. The engine’s sole job was to charge a 49.05kWh battery that powered four 220kW (295bhp) traction electric motors, for a total output of 880kW (1180bhp). 

Its claimed maximum range on the CLTC (Chine Light-vehicle Test Cycle) was listed as 1000km, from a full 75-litre petrol tank and full battery. Electric-only range was said to be 180km.

Thanks to its prodigious output, the U8’s acceleration to 100km/h was a claimed at 3.6 seconds, but top speed was limited to 200km/h.

The U8 supported DC fast charging up to 110kW, with BYD claiming a 30 to 80-percent charging duration of only 18 minutes. 

The U8 had its European premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show in 2024 and BYD Australia confirmed the U8 for introduction in Australia, probably in late-2025.