Yangwang HU received doors as luxurious as those in a Rolls-Royce. BYD aims for 2 million yuan.
BYD unveiled a masked prototype of its ultra-luxury limousine under the Yangwang brand, tentatively named HU. The vehicle features windward-opening rear doors, is expected to cost over 2 million yuan, and could become the company’s first model equipped with a solid-electrolyte battery.
The name has not yet been finalized, so “HU” is merely an internal designation. However, the ambitions behind it are fully exposed.
BYD’s Limousine Aims to Compete with Rolls-Royce
Photos released by Hu Xiaoqing, the head of Yangwang, show a massive sedan with a design closely resembling Rolls-Royce’s Phantom. The most distinctive feature is the rear-mounted rear doors, aka classic coach doors. According to BYD, this will be the first vehicle from the brand to feature such a design.
Yangwang is the most exclusive brand in the BYD group. It was there that the four-motor e4 platform, Disus active suspension, and new generations of Blade batteries made their debut. The current Yangwang U7 sedan starts at 658,000 yuan, which is approximately 330,000 zł before taxes and import costs.
The new flagship is expected to cost over 2 million yuan, roughly equivalent to one million złoty. The difference compared to the U7 is therefore enormous. BYD is not aiming to compete with the Mercedes EQS here, but rather trying to enter the market segment dominated by Maybach and Rolls-Royce.
The prototype was also photographed at a BYD Flash Charging station. This suggests support for megawatt-level charging, but the manufacturer has not yet disclosed either the power output or the charging time. The mere presence at a charging station does not constitute an official specification.
Solid-state batteries are set to enter BYD’s lineup in 2027
Chinese media suggest that it might be this Yangwang model that first receives a battery with a solid electrolyte. However, there is no official confirmation yet that it will be the HU specifically that introduces this technology.
Stella Li, BYD’s vice president, recently said in an interview with Carwow.es that the company’s first vehicle equipped with such a battery will debut in 2027. BYD’s battery subsidiary, FinDreams, plans to begin limited production of sulfur-based solid-state cells at that time. Mass production is not expected until 2030.
This distinction is important. A debut in a car priced at one million zlotys does not yet mean solid-state batteries will be available in popular models like the Sealion or Dolphin. A more likely scenario is very expensive versions of flagship models with new cells, along with cheaper versions using Blade LFP batteries.
Unofficially, there are also talks about an e4 platform with four engines and a power output exceeding 1000 HP. BYD has not confirmed the specifications, range, or launch date.
If the HU truly paves the way for solid-state technology, it will likely be more of a demonstration of capabilities rather than a car for customers seeking a reasonable alternative to Tesla. Does this million-zloty Chinese limousine have a chance of convincing buyers of Rolls-Royce?
LovEV Newsletter
Want more content like this?
Sign up — we’ll send you a weekly summary once the newsletter starts.