In early 2023, BYD unveiled its high-end brand YangWang and its first high-end hardcore SUV, the YangWang U8. This hardcore SUV created a sales myth by achieving 13,000 pre-orders within 48 hours, leading the sales of million-dollar luxury SUVs, proving the recognized strength of the YangWang brand. Now, the second product, the YangWang U9 (Price Inquiry | Specification Check), is an all-electric supercar that pushes the boundaries of automotive performance. Just through its design and technical specifications, it's evident that the YangWang U9 will be a supercar that makes Chinese proud, capable of competing with traditional supercars in terms of performance and capability.
On February 25, 2024, the milestone Chinese supercar, the YangWang U9, was officially launched with only one model priced at 1.68 million yuan, with deliveries beginning in mid-year. What are the highlights and technological innovations of this all-electric supercar? How competitive is it as a representative of domestic high-end brands?
Model Overview:
The YangWang U9 adheres to the family design philosophy, achieving the ultimate aesthetic expression of pure energy art, resulting in a visually striking exterior design with aggressive lines and surfaces. Notably, the interstellar crossing headlights on the front end signify the design signature of an electrified supercar. Its characteristics include radiating lines arranged in an orderly manner, outlining the stance of the front end like a "gateway to space."
With a long front overhang, short rear overhang, muscular wheel arches, elongated body, and low-slung cabin, the YangWang U9 incorporates all the essential elements of a supercar. The overall vehicle design mimics a drop-shaped fuselage, reducing aerodynamic drag and visually softening the cabin boundaries, creating a feeling of a floating cockpit. In terms of dimensions, the YangWang U9 measures 4966/2029/1295 (1338) mm in length, width, and height, with a wheelbase of 2900mm.
Frameless gull-wing doors, another essential element of a supercar, are also equipped on the YangWang U9. Not only do they exude a sense of luxury in design, but they also increase the opening range of the doors, making entry and exit more convenient for the driver.
The YangWang U9 comes in three body colors: Vermillion Red, Agael Purple, and Monday Silver.
In terms of aerodynamics and cooling, the YangWang U9 is equipped with six sets of body air duct layouts and twelve sets of main and passive aerodynamic kits, allowing the vehicle to excel in core aerodynamic indicators such as efficient cooling, ultra-low aerodynamic drag, and high downforce. For example, cleverly placed S-shaped air tunnels on the sides of the front compartment, guided by the upward airflow from the front lip, enter the S-shaped air tunnels on both sides of the front grille, then guided upwards through the S-shaped tunnels to the sides of the hood for outlet flow, increasing front axle downforce.
The YangWang U9 features dual-tone five-spoke large wheels. The front and rear tires are both high-performance Pirelli P ZERO series, with front tire sizes of 275/35 R21 and rear tire sizes of 325/30 R21. Speaking of the front wheels, one aerodynamic technology of the YangWang U9 is worth mentioning. In front of the front wheels, the YangWang U9 has designed a set of circular mountain windbreakers. Compared to traditional windbreakers, the circular mountain windbreakers eliminate the lower surface. The airflow flowing from the front direction is laterally separated by the circular mountain windbreakers and smoothly flows through both sides of the front wheels, reducing the airflow resistance generated on the front wheels.
At the rear, the design highlights include the active spoiler and through-type taillights. When the electric tail wing opens, the active diffuser winglets retract to provide greater downforce to the rear axle. When the active tail wing closes, the active diffuser winglets provide downward pressure to streamline the airflow and reduce drag. If the large tail wing is installed later (the price of the swan-neck large tail wing is 100,000 yuan), this large tail wing adopts a swan-neck design, with the brackets fixed at the upper end of the tail wing, which can avoid interference from the bottom flow of the tail wing, and the angle of attack of the tail wing coordinates with the direction of the roof airflow to continuously change for optimal efficiency, ultimately bringing a large amount of downforce.
The interior cabin is inspired by future aircraft design. The YangWang U9 features a dual-ring cockpit design, with symmetrical beauty mirrored on both the left and right sides, creating a sense of envelopment for both the driver and front passenger. Additionally, the forward visibility is very open. The YangWang U9 has up to 127 ambient light colors, accompanying changes in driving mode and music rhythm. Moreover, the YangWang U9 will have the quietest cabin.
Similarly to the exterior, the YangWang offers three interior trim options: Nebula Purple, Vermillion Red, and Orichalch Orange.
The YangWang U9 is powered by the E4EASY platform, with four independent electric motors as the core. Each motor has a maximum power of up to 240 kW, with a total comprehensive power of an astonishing 960 kW. The vehicle's horsepower exceeds 1300 PS, with a maximum torque of 1680 N·m, and a zero-to-one-hundred acceleration of within 2 seconds. It offers four driving modes: economy, comfort, sport, and snow, as well as an exclusive racing mode for the track. Thanks to the independent vector control of the four motors, the YangWang U9 can allocate the optimal torque to each wheel independently, precisely controlling the vehicle's trajectory and improving lateral and longitudinal stability, along with the YUNXU-X intelligent fully active chassis control system, making the U9 more stable through corners.
The YangWang U9's top speed can reach up to 309.19 km/h. Its lap time at the Shanghai International Circuit is 2 minutes 17.65 seconds.
In terms of electronic safety, the YangWang U9's motors use ultra-thin low iron loss silicon steel sheets and high-temperature-resistant permanent magnets to improve motor efficiency, reduce heat loss, and enhance the motor's temperature resistance. Ensuring the safety and performance requirements of the electric drive system, the YangWang U9 has optimized the motor magnetic circuit and adopted permanent magnets with higher temperature resistance and stronger demagnetization resistance. The permanent magnet can withstand temperatures up to 200°C. For electronic control, the YangWang U9 uses more efficient silicon carbide electronic control, with a maximum transmission efficiency of up to 99.8%. It's worth noting that supercars require efficient thermal management systems to keep the motors at optimal operating temperatures. The YangWang U9 features three sets of thermal management systems – large, medium, and small cycles – to meet cooling performance requirements in different scenarios. Both front and rear axle motors are equipped with dual electronic oil pumps, each pump independently controlling the oil cooling of one motor, achieving intelligent control of the cooling oil volume for each motor.
In terms of body structure, the YangWang U9's integral monocoque carbon cockpit is more suitable for supercar use, conducting energy evenly over its surface to evenly disperse forces. The U9 has strong load-bearing capacity and torsional rigidity, with a vehicle torsional stiffness of 54425 N·m/°. It's worth noting that the U9's super lightweight body coefficient is only 0.95, breaking through the industry's limits.
The YangWang U9's super carbon cockpit uses T700-grade carbon fiber, the highest civilian grade, and 12K aerospace-grade small bundles commonly used in aircraft and spacecraft, using a hot press tank molding process. Its materials are rare, with a single-piece output only 1/100 of other common processes, taking 36 times longer to produce and being more complex and costly. It's worth noting that on October 31, 2023, the YangWang's super body won the "2023 China's Top Ten Bodies" honor with its outstanding performance in carbon fiber safety body architecture.
Facing its competitors, the YangWang U9 has several advantages. As global attention shifts towards environmental protection and sustainable development, large-displacement gasoline engines will gradually exit the stage, prompting many traditional supercar manufacturers to plan the launch of all-electric supercars. The advantage of all-electric supercars lies in the torque output characteristics of electric motors, allowing vehicles to reach maximum torque instantly for faster acceleration. This acceleration performance often provides drivers with an exhilarating driving experience, which traditional supercars with large-displacement gasoline engines cannot match. Furthermore, without a traditional internal combustion engine, engineers have better control over the weight distribution and drive form of all-electric supercars, enabling more extreme vehicle dynamics. Especially with the YUNXU-X system, the U9's cornering posture is believed to be more natural.
For consumers, supported by the E4EASY platform, the U9 can achieve multiple functions, making it suitable for street, racing, and recreational driving. At the very least, its comfort and stability derived from BYD's years of car-making technology can outperform those of traditional supercar manufacturers.
The advantages of the YangWang U9 lie in its excellent cooling and aerodynamic systems. Additionally, the U9's horsepower exceeds 1300 PS, and its versatility allows it to be more than just a track-exclusive supercar. Lastly, the success of the YangWang U8 set a high standard, establishing a high-end image for the brand, further increasing the U9's visibility.
ML-VEHICLE believes that the performance of the YangWang U9 in terms of configuration and technology has almost reached new heights. These factors will undoubtedly bring different driving experiences for future owners, sparking anticipation. Some may worry that the launch of the YangWang U9 is merely to further enhance the appeal of the YangWang brand, without aiming for sales. Previously, many people viewed the YangWang U8 with the same skepticism, but the current sales of the U8 are enough to prove its broad audience. Could the U9 achieve similar success and change the embarrassing situation of valuable yet unsold Chinese supercars?
Finally, customers willing to spend over a million yuan on it not only acknowledge BYD's top-notch technology but also believe that "electrification" can endow supercars with different performance and charm. The YangWang U9 carries the dream of humanity to chase higher speeds.
Key Points: The YangWang U9 has two major strengths: E4EASY and YUNXU-X. Firstly, the name E4EASY is a homophone for "e to the power of 4", corresponding to the platform's new four-motor independent vector control technology. The E4EASY technology platform features four wheel-side motors with each motor reaching peak power of 220-240 kW and maximum torque of 320-420 N·m. The four motors together produce a maximum horsepower of over 1100 PS and can achieve a zero-to-hundred acceleration in the 3s range. Despite its explosive performance, E4EASY seeks not only astonishing power parameters but also the perception and precise control of the four wheel-side motors.
By real-time sensing the motion status of the four wheels, the E4EASY technology platform can analyze the vehicle's motion attitude and the grip of the four wheels, and automatically control the output of each motor separately to achieve four-wheel independent drive and optimal grip. Even if a single wheel suffers a blowout, the system can stably control the remaining three wheels.
The E4EASY technology platform adopts a highly coordinated electronic and electrical architecture of central computing platform + domain control architecture, realizing precise and diversified control of the four motors. The wheel-side motors are arranged at the positions of the four wheels on the vehicle body, which, compared to hub motors, have minimal restrictions on the motors and do not increase unsprung mass, achieving true four-wheel independent control.
The previously released YangWang U8 and the newly launched all-electric supercar are both models planned based on the characteristics of the E4EASY technology platform. For the YangWang U8, it brings technologies such as on-the-spot turning, emergency water crossing, and high-speed stability. The E4EASY concept car with drive, brake, and steering three-in-one technology and the practical yet amazing E4EASY parking technology (automatic parking, remote parking) have recently met everyone. There is still more potential and imaginative space to be explored in E4EASY.
The YUNXU-X intelligent fully active chassis control system consists of dual-camera, YUNXU intelligent computing center, dual-valve electronic shock absorber assembly, five-in-one power source, hydraulic pipeline assembly, and height sensor, providing core functions such as active force adjustment and damping adjustment, achieving innovative functions such as dancing with the camera, jumping in place, providing users with the ultimate driving experience combining comfort and control, safety and intelligence. The YUNXU-X system of the YangWang U9 has a maximum power of 36 kW, and the peak single-axis lifting speed is as high as 500 mm/s, capable of instantaneously outputting more than 1 ton of lifting force.
Secondly, it integrates horizontal, longitudinal, and vertical fusion control as its core, providing the YangWang U9 with an unprecedented driving experience. The large adjustment stroke of the U9 reaches 75mm, can quickly raise 50mm, the average single-axis lifting speed can reach 375mm/s, and it can ensure grip on all four wheels by passing bumpy road surfaces such as shoulders at high speed. Meanwhile, this system can easily meet daily driving needs, giving the U9 room for street, racing, and recreational driving.
Finally, the YangWang U9 features dancing, warm-up mode, and spontaneous display (which will be available on the first batch of delivered U9 models), with more useful and fun capabilities to be developed later, unlocked through complete OTA capabilities. Secondly, a large number of users co-create personalized elements, striving to create a personal exclusive YangWang U9.
