China’s electrical automobile market is rising at an unprecedented price and of all the brand new Chinese language electrified automobiles launched this 12 months, BYD’s YangWang U8 is among the most over-the-top. The large Land Rover Defender-esque off-roader has over 1,100 hp and lately obtained the tick of approval from California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Newsom is presently having fun with a weeklong go to to China to give attention to methods to reduce local weather change and to signal agreements with varied Chinese language province leaders on vital local weather objectives. Throughout his go to, he visited a depot run by the Shenzhen Bus Group and whereas there, had the chance to take a look at the YangWang U8, not lengthy after deliveries of the dramatic EV began in China.

“That is one other leap in expertise, the next-level leap and I didn’t count on and I respect this expertise,” he instructed reporters whereas behind the wheel of the U8. “Unbelievable, completely, and a gorgeous automobile. The design, performance, weight, and weight distribution.” Requested if he needed to take the SUV again to Sacramento with him, he stated, “I would like two of them.”

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Learn: BYD’s New YangWang U8 Is A Defender-Type Electrical Off-Roader With Over 1,100 HP

As a way of exhibiting Newsom what EVs are able to, BYD couldn’t have chosen a greater mannequin than the YangWang U8. Not solely wouldn’t it look proper at dwelling cruising alongside a few of California’s wealthiest streets but it surely additionally has the credentials to overcome among the state’s most distant wilderness areas. Sadly, there are usually not but any plans to promote the U8 within the U.S.

The spectacular U8 is 5,300 mm (208.7 inches) lengthy, has a 3,050 mm (120.1-inch) wheelbase and makes use of a 49.05 kWh battery pack. Whereas that will appear small, the U8 has a compact 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine performing as a generator and supplementing the battery pack. Drive comes courtesy of 4 electrical motors that mix to supply 1,197 hp (880 kW), permitting the huge SUV to hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in simply 3.6 seconds. The U8 even has a tank flip mode that Newsom was in a position to take a look at out.