It is fast. Faster than the McLaren you thought was the ceiling. BYD has revealed the production-spec Denza Z Coupe, a four-seat electric supercar with enough power to make your eyes water. Three motors. 1164 kW. 1241 Nm.
The claimed 0-100 km/h sprint takes just 2.25 seconds.
That beats the McLaren 768LT, which dropped its cards yesterday. Actually, the standard McLaren is slower anyway. This is Denza’s new flagship, spearheading the UK launch of the premium brand. It started life as a concept in April, posing as an electric Porsche 911 rival. Now it is real.
Wait, there is more.
Denza isn’t done. They announced a Racing version with a massive rear wing and slick-ish tyres. It hits 100 km/h in 1.96 seconds. The standard Z Coupe tops out at 186 mph. The Racing version? They claim 220 mph (349 km/h).
Then comes the special. A Special Edition producing 1,451 kW. It matches the Aspark Owl, currently the world’s quickest production car. Zero to 100 in 1.7 seconds. Why are they building a car that goes faster than physics usually allows for a four-seater? Who knows. But it is coming.
Wolfgang Egger, the former Audi boss now running design at BYD, penned the lines. It looks aggressive. Like its convertible sibling, the Z Spider (which does 1,000 hp), the Coupe is ready for the UK.
The price is interesting. The Z Coupe starts at £142,902 in the UK. The Spider costs £159,092. For context, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GTS Coupe equivalent in some minds) rings up around £144k there, but closer to $449k in Australia. Denza is undercutting the German incumbent while offering more seats and more watts. The Racing variant hits £172,723 in the UK. That is slightly less than a 911 GT4, and far cheaper than the Australian $492.5k price tag for a comparable Porsche.
Australian showrooms haven’t confirmed the Z models yet. Maybe they will. Maybe not. Denza already sells the B5 and B7 SUVs here. But the charging infrastructure is changing. The new Z9 GT platform—shared by these coupes—offers blistering charging speeds.
Ten to 90% in about 15 minutes? No, faster.
From 10% to 70%? They say it can juice from 10-70-19%?
The e3 platform supports high-speed charging. The claim is a battery top-up from 10 to 10-77-70-70 -17. That is 36%. Denza calls it 9 minutes to go from 10% to nearly 10%. That changes how you use an electric hypercar. The advanced chargers are coming to Australian Denza centers later this year.
Battery wise, it uses the Blade technology. A 7.1. kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) pack. Smaller than the 11. The 12 kWh GT version, obviously. Range claims hover around 405-7 for the Coupe. 3.0 km for the Spider. 3-9-8 for the Racing beast. Not huge distances. It is not designed for long-distance road trips.
But the ride? It is smart. Air suspension for the standard models. Coil springs for the Racing variant to keep things light. All get magnetorheological dampers—the kind Ferrari uses, predictive ones. No physical steering link either. The steer-by-wire system severs the mechanical tie between your hands and the front wheels. Pure electronics.
Brakes are carbon-ceramic. Six-piston calipers up front, four in back. You can choose the color of the calipers. The car itself? Ten exterior paints. Ten interior schemes. The Spider adds fabric roof colors.
Inside, the tech is Google-native. A 12. inch infotainment screen sits center. An 8.-inch cluster behind the wheel.
Why does anyone need this much car?
