When the Chinese automobile industry decides to equip its vehicles with features worthy of science fiction, we wonder if the engineers have not watched a few too many action films. The giant BYD, a very serious competitor to Tesla (the world’s leading EV manufacturer by the end of 2023, no less) sells consumer vehicles by the millions, but also has its premium division: Yangwang (the equivalent of AMG from Mercedes or M from BMW).
The U9, the latest technological gem in this division, has just added a function that would make Hollywood stuntmen green with envy: the ability to leap over obstacles.
The hypercar that defies the laws of gravity
Equipped with four electric motors, the U9 displays a cumulative power reaching 1,287 hp, each developing 240 kW. This is already more than enough to flout the rules of physics since the U9 can easily reach 375 km/h. But that’s not all! Two days ago, BYD shared a rather special video of the U9 on its YouTube channel.
The car sets off, at full speed, epic music in the background; so far, nothing unusual, it feels like a Bugatti or Koenigsegg demonstration video. Except that the U9 is equipped with a suspension system called Disus perform jumps above the asphalt.
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So she can jump on a length of six meters – even if the maximum height of 35 millimeters is more reminiscent of the jump of a mouse than that of a feline. Even worse, these acrobatics are performed without a driver on board, which would leave a certain manager of another brand, also a fan of autonomous cars, speechless. The absence of a pilot is certainly explained by the fact that, if there had been one inside, such a maneuver at that speed would certainly have crushed his coccyx.
An impressive technical demonstration which nevertheless poses an essential question: what’s the point? Because, beyond the technological tour de force, it is difficult to imagine the situations where an average driver would need to make his luxury car jump over an obstacle. At almost 200,000 euros per machine, since that’s the price of the U9, we would rather not want to see our vehicle bouncing on the road.
In any case, this marketing video does not lack panache and proves that BYD has the time to invest in this kind of fairly futile functionality. But at least it gets people talking. Meanwhile, other manufacturers are still seeking to optimize the range of electric vehicles, their weight or their price. Everyone has their own fight !
- BYD has revealed a video of its U9, a hypercar capable of jumping 6 meters thanks to an advanced suspension system.
- With 1,287 horsepower and a top speed of 375 km/h, the U9 is a true monster.
- On the other hand, this skip function has little use, other than marketing.
