Off-road SUV Yangwang U8 seen driving through unbelievably deep water like its a boat
- Yangwang U8 is an SUV unveiled by BYD
- It’s fitted with an electric engine, and a gas-powered range extender
- It can swim, crab-walk and perform 360-degree, tank-style turns
Published on Apr 17, 2024 at 12:15 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Apr 17, 2024 at 7:25 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
BYD did make it clear that its newest SUV, the Yangwang U8, was a very capable off-roader.
But action speaks louder than words, and a video the automaker shared tells you just how good it is.
As we can see from the video, it is especially good at ‘swimming’.
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BYD is on the rise.
After beating Tesla last year, becoming the world’s leading EV maker for the first time, the Chinese automaker unveiled a few interesting models.
In addition to the Yangwang U8 you see here, the company has also launched the Yangwang U9, a supercar that can accelerate faster than the Bugatti Chiron.
For whatever reason – probably just for fun – they’ve also fitted it with a complex suspension system that can make it dance.
The Yangwang U8 is a different animal altogether.
The 1,180-horsepower SUV can wade in waters up to 1400mm in an emergency, and can even float and move in water at speeds of up to 2.9 km/h (1.8 mph).
It also features 360-degree tank turns and it can ‘walk’ like a crab, kind of like the Hummer EV.
Interestingly, the U8 is technically not a fully electric vehicle.
The main engine is a permanent magnet 880 kW motor but the car is also equipped with a gas-powered range extender that’s basically just as large as a normal engine.
It’s a four-cylinder 2.0-liter turbo unit, giving the car a combined power output of 1,180 horsepower, and a range of 1,000 km – or 620 miles.
The U8 is roughly the same size as a BMW X7, with a long wheelbase (3+ meters) and an overall length of 5.3 meters.
One of the downsides of all the tech it carries is the weight of the vehicle.
The U8 tips the scales at a whopping 3,460 kg – or 7,620 lbs, which is a lot, for sure.
Part of the reason it weighs so much – apart from the battery pack and the engine – is that it packs a bunch of lidars, radars, and cameras that it needs for its L2 self-driving system.
In total, the U8 has 38 (again, a lot) individual sensors.
It has 3 lidars, 13 cameras, 12 radars, and 5 wave radars for when it ‘swims’.
This all adds up to a seriously rugged machine, fit for nearly any situation.
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