BYD's Denza Z is a 1,500 hp electric supercar, and it looks properly menacing
China's supercar ambitions just went up several gears
China's charge into the supercar big leagues just got serious. BYD's sporty Denza sub-brand is bringing the all-electric Denza Z to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in two flavours, and with around 1,500 hp and a 350 km/h top speed, it has the numbers to back up those dramatic looks. The teaser images alone, all menacing silhouettes and glowing quad tail lights, are enough to grab your attention.
Coupe and Racing, both electric
Goodwood will host the world debut of two versions: the Denza Z Coupe and the Denza Z Racing. Both are fully electric and follow the Pure Emotion design philosophy first shown by the Denza Z Spider at Auto China in Beijing back in April. The teaser images appear to show the wilder Racing model, complete with a huge swan-neck rear wing, an aggressive front splitter and slim quad-circle tail lights, and it looks every bit the hardcore track weapon.
1,500 hp, but still practical
The Coupe shares its powertrain with the Spider, a three-motor electric setup that delivers a claimed 350 km/h top speed and, according to BYD, somewhere around 1,500 hp. What is genuinely clever is that all that performance has not killed everyday usability: the Denza Z Coupe keeps a 2+2 seating layout and a large boot, so this is a supercar you could theoretically use more than once a month. The Racing version throws practicality aside in favour of that dramatic carbon-fibre aero package, for buyers who find 350 km/h somehow insufficiently exciting.
Not just supercars: the BAO5 too
Denza is not only chasing headlines with supercars. It is also bringing the BAO5 to Europe for the first time, a rugged premium SUV aimed squarely at the established players. It uses DM-o, or Dual-Mode Off-Road, technology that pairs three electric motors with a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine, promising EV refinement and control on or off-road with the flexibility of petrol. In other words, Denza wants to attack the premium market from several directions at once. This is the same relentless BYD momentum that just cracked 2 percent market share in Belgium, now aimed at the top of the market.
AutoNext Take
Not long ago the idea of a Chinese electric supercar humbling establishment names would have drawn a smirk. Not any more. A 1,500 hp, 350 km/h Denza Z that still has back seats and a boot is a genuine statement of how fast BYD is climbing, and if the driving experience matches the spec sheet and those seriously handsome looks, the old guard should be worried. It fits a wider pattern of Chinese brands going everywhere at once, from mass-market EVs to hypercars, even to building cars at Nissan's UK plant. We will hold final judgement until it turns a wheel in anger, but on looks and numbers alone, the Denza Z is one of the most exciting things at this year's Goodwood.
