Is the Denza Z9 GT a huge problem for Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche?

Brief Summary

The Denza Z9 GT, a shooting brake designed vehicle from a joint venture between Mercedes and BYD, is examined for its potential to challenge established German premium manufacturers. The car boasts advanced technology, including rear-axle steering with crab walk functionality, and comes in both plug-in hybrid and full electric versions. The interior features high-quality materials, multiple screens, and unique features like a karaoke microphone slot and dual fridges. However, the vehicle's seating comfort and ergonomics may need improvement.

  • High-tech features like rear-axle steering and crab walk.
  • Available as both plug-in hybrid and full electric.
  • Luxurious interior with high-quality materials and multiple screens.
  • Potential challenges in seating comfort and brand acceptance.

Denza as technology leader?

The Denza Z9 GT is presented as a high-tech vehicle with the potential to challenge established German premium manufacturers like Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche. The Denza brand has a history as a joint venture between Mercedes and BYD, with Mercedes later selling its stake back to BYD. The exterior design has a Porsche-esque feel, influenced by Wolfgang Egger, the head designer of BYD and former Audi designer. The presenter asks viewers for their impressions of the Denza logo and teases a closer look at the vehicle's powertrain, trunk, and interior.

Powertrains PHEV vs EV

The Denza Z9 GT offers two powertrain options: a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and a full electric vehicle (EV), both of which look nearly identical. The PHEV version is currently showcased, with the EV version slated for a European launch in autumn 2025, followed by the PHEV in early 2026. Both versions feature one electric motor in the front and two in the rear, with the PHEV adding a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder combustion engine in the front. The PHEV boasts almost 900 horsepower, while the EV delivers nearly 1,000 horsepower. The PHEV has a 38.5 kWh battery, and the EV has a 100 kWh battery. The EV charging time is approximately 25 minutes for a 10-80% charge with a peak of 270kW.

Rear-axle steering features

The Denza Z9 GT is equipped with rear-axle steering, allowing the rear wheels to turn up to 10 degrees in the opposite direction of the front wheels, similar to a Mercedes S-Class, to reduce the turning circle and enhance agility. It can also align the rear wheels parallel to the front wheels, enabling a "crab walk" function for sideways movement in narrow spaces. In this mode, the rear wheels can turn up to 15 degrees in the same direction. During emergency braking, the wheels can turn inward to provide additional braking force. The vehicle also features standard air suspension.

Frunk?

The presenter reveals that the plug-in hybrid version of the Denza Z9 GT does not have a frunk (front trunk) due to the presence of the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine. It is speculated that the electric version may have a frunk, and viewers from China are asked to confirm this. The combustion engine in the PHEV directly powers the wheels at steady speeds, otherwise functioning as a generator.

Interior quality and comfort

The Denza Z9 GT's interior is accessed via electric doors and features high-quality materials such as bamboo wood and crystalline levers. The vehicle has digital side mirrors, which the presenter admits to not preferring over classic mirrors. The windows are dual-glazed for sound insulation. The interior build quality appears high, with a large entry sill badge. The steering wheel has real buttons for functions like adaptive cruise control and volume control. The seats have a Mercedes-like design, but are covered in animal skin. The presenter expresses a desire for animal-friendly options. The steering wheel is electrically adjustable. The presenter notes that headroom is limited, especially with the sun blind down, and the seats are not very soft.

Cockpit and interface

The Denza Z9 GT's cockpit features a 17-inch central touchscreen, a 13-inch instrument display, and a 13-inch passenger display. The passenger display is designed to be viewed from a straight angle to minimize driver distraction. The cockpit includes a frameless mirror and crystalline buttons. The vehicle has adaptive cup holders and two fridges with adjustable temperature settings. Inductive charging pads with a sticky rubber background are available for phones. The "E3" button activates special commands, including rear-wheel steering functions like crab walk and PCT (pivot turning circle). The system's processing power is very quick, reminiscent of Tesla's interface. The glove box includes a slot for a karaoke microphone, a popular feature in China. The front passenger seat can be controlled from the driver's side using the "gentleman function." The presenter praises the high-quality materials used throughout the interior.

Rear luxury seating

The rear of the Denza Z9 GT features dual-glazed windows and high-quality wood trim. Emergency locks are included for manual door operation. The chauffeur-side seat can be moved forward to maximize space. Rear seat controls adjust the lower and back portions of the seat for optimal comfort. The headrests are adjustable, and mirrors with LED illumination are included. A separate door opener is available for rear passengers. The middle part of the rear can be used as a seat, but it is stiff. Folding down the middle section reveals cup holders and a second fridge. The temperature of the fridge can be adjusted. The presenter compares the rear experience to that of the NIO ET9. All doors can be closed simultaneously by hitting the brake.

Trunk / boot

The Denza Z9 GT's trunk has an electric hatch. The height under the cover is limited, but the cover can be removed, and the floor can be lowered to accommodate larger items. The width of the trunk is approximately 1 meter (40 inches), the length is 97 centimeters (38 inches), and the maximum height is 69 centimeters (27 inches). The rear fridge affects the trunk's length. The rear seats can be electrically folded down.

Lower trim

The Denza Z9 GT is also available in a lower trim level, featuring 20-inch wheels instead of 21-inch wheels and classic mirrors instead of camera mirrors. The presenter asks viewers for their opinion on the white color and smaller wheels.

Technology in-depth

The Denza Z9 GT's rear axle steering technology allows for a narrow turning circle of 4.62 meters. The parking assist feature helps maneuver the car into tight parking spots. The "crab walk" function enables the car to move sideways at slower speeds. The presenter notes that these features may cause tire wear. The technology is easily activated via the touchscreen.

Acceleration and driving test

The Denza Z9 GT's air suspension is set on the softer side. The throttle and brakes are very responsive. The standard recuperation setting does not allow for one-pedal driving. The vehicle feels heavy when cornering. The side bolsters inflate during turns. The noise insulation is very good. In "Sport" mode, the engine engages during acceleration. Wind noise is noticeable at higher speeds. The air suspension handles bumps and cobblestones well.

Rear-axle steering

The presenter tests the rear-axle steering by making a U-turn.

Emergency braking

The Denza Z9 GT's autonomous emergency braking system is tested at 50 kilometers per hour. The car automatically brakes without the driver pressing the brake pedal.

More driving details

The side bolsters inflate during turns, a feature the presenter finds slightly annoying. The knee space on the right side is very tight. The steering provides good feedback but requires significant input in "Normal" mode. "Sport" mode offers stiffer suspension and more feedback. The plug-in hybrid drives mostly electric due to its large battery. The presenter finds it difficult to find a comfortable seating position due to stiff seats and limited ergonomics. The steering is more comfortable than progressive. The car feels well-built. The presenter prefers the version without digital mirrors due to the close focus required.

Price

The Denza Z9 GT is expected to start around 100,000 euros. The presenter questions whether customers will accept a new brand at a similar price point to established premium competitors. Customer service and vehicle servicing are also concerns. Chinese brands have not been very successful in sales in the European market, particularly in Germany. However, Chinese brands offer advanced technology and fresh ideas.

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Transcript

Full transcript of “Is the Denza Z9 GT a huge problem for Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche?”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.

0:00 A car that can park in sideways, so to speak. Can this new vehicle here challenge Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Porsche on their home market? This is here the Denza Z9 GT. We're going to explain you all about it. This high-tech vehicle with a lot of new technology features you've maybe not seen before. But how good is it for real? And can it really attack the German premium manufacturers on their very core home market? We're going to find out with Thomas on Autogefühl in 4K, full screen, full length. Let's go with the Denza Z9 GT. GT stands for the... like Grand Touring version. It's more like a shooting brake design. In China, it's also available as a sedan. And the history behind the Denza brand is, 2010, Mercedes and BYD made a joint venture

0:46 and they founded this brand here together, actually. Later, Mercedes sold their stake back to BYD. I mean, if you remember the story with Mercedes and Tesla, Mercedes had a high stake in Tesla that would today be worth more than the whole Daimler corporation itself. You know, they sold it before Tesla really went skyrocketing on the stock market. Lately, of course, down again. But here will it be the same story? Will Denza succeed that much that Mercedes will regret selling the stakes? Yeah, we have to see about that. And what we already see on the exterior is, let's say, a Porsche-esque design. Wolfgang Egger, the head designer of BYD, was formerly an Audi designer, so German design, basically, of this vehicle as well. And you can see the Denza logo. That's what you see in the front. I would like to know your feedback.

1:32 What do you see in this logo? What I see actually, I'm not sure if you can unsee it then. Maybe like a blue, dark blue tie someone is wearing or something like that. We'll be looking forward to your feedback. We'll soon also look under the hood, trunk, interior and so on. And important to explain to you in the front, what is the powertrain of this vehicle? So we have two choices. Either a plug-in hybrid, the one you can see here at the moment, and an electric version, full electric version. And both look the same. They're almost the same length. So this one here is at 5 meters 20 or 205 inches. The EV version is just like 2 centimeters shorter. It's just a different overhang. A little bit different from the spoiler. But you couldn't really tell the difference on the exterior. And as I said, in the Chinese market, they also have the classic sedan form.

2:19 And in Europe, they want to launch with a GT version here, starting with electric version. So not this one here, not like the plug-in hybrid. Electric version in autumn 2025. And this one here, the plug-in hybrid, supposed to come in early 2026 to the European market. We can see here, these are 21-inch wheels, pretty large. And talking about wheels, there's so much technology in this vehicle, actually. But let's start with the powertrains. So you have... one electric motor in the front, always two electric motors in the rear. So one per wheel. Plus the plug-in hybrid gets the 2-liter... 4-cylinder combustion engine also in the front. But both cars work more or less the same. Acceleration figures are 3.6 seconds or 3.4 seconds for the fully electric version.

3:06 The plug-in hybrid has almost 900 horsepower. The EV has almost 1,000 horsepower. So a lot of power, of course, because you have so many electric motors. And the EV, of course, fully electric, as usual. And the plug-in hybrid, usually... it lets the combustion engine run as a generator. But in some rare cases, for example, cruising 100 kilometers, 60 miles an hour on the... motorway, then the combustion engine of the plug-in hybrid also directly powers the front wheels because that's... more efficient. But in general, the thing is that with a PHEV, you have a 38.5 kilowatt-hour battery. Very large for plug-in hybrid. And for the full electric version, there you have a 100 kilowatt-hour battery. It's electric charging flap. So this... you know, probably will look different than on the... EU version.

3:55 There we go. AC and DC in this case then here with a different charging port. So... let's see. Let's close it again. So the plug-in hybrid version will have a DC peak of 82 kilowatt and the EV will have a peak of 270 kilowatt, making the EV charging time 10 to 80 percent in about 25 minutes. These are the facts we have actually... so far. And it goes even further with the technology shown you very initially. This car has a rear-axle steering and... in the usual scheme, like a Mercedes S-Class, the rear wheels can turn up to 10 degrees in the opposite direction than the front wheels, reducing the normal turning circle, making it more agile and so on. At the same time, it can also... put these wheels parallel to the front wheels, like also other

4:43 rear wheel steering do. But usually they do it at higher speeds and not so much. But here it can also do it at low speeds and do like a... crab walk. So these wheels in this direction, these as well, and the car basically goes sideways if you have like some narrow situation. Then these here can turn up to... 15 degrees in the same direction. And even, you know, more possible have like the front wheel stationary and then the rest of the vehicle comes around and it works like that. For example, if I want to move this one here... straight now, then actually the front wheel there, the front right wheel would be sticking to the ground. And then this one would turn... backward. And on the other sides, the wheels would turn forward. And then it goes like... like this.

5:28 So a lot of interesting technology... behind this vehicle. And they really want to be, let's say, a technology leader. And of course, also in design, this here should remind you of like a sand clock. Not sure if I would see a sand clock in that one. Yeah, but definitely very interesting. One more function that is actually possible when you hit like an emergency braking, then the wheels can also turn inward both. Like, you know, like the... skiing beginners, they go down the slope like this. And this, you know, when you turn the rear wheels like this, is like an additional braking force you apply. And by the way, that also gets a standard... air suspension. And Michel, who is doing the camera work for today, just suggested, he said like... the viewers should comment on what's your favorite Thomas move for today. Like... the ski beginner or the crab walk.

6:16 Vote for your favorite Thomas move today. Let's see if it has a frunk or not. Okay, I fooled you guys. Because this one, as I said, is the plug-in hybrid. That's why it doesn't have a frunk. So I would suppose that the electric version does have a frunk there. But maybe some of our Chinese viewers can tell us if that's the case for the EV version that's already available in China. But here, as I said, the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder... in that plug-in hybrid version. And yeah, it's 100 kilometers an hour... It directly attaches to the wheels if you keep it like steady, for example. And in most other situations, it will just run as a... generator. This is the key fob. Kind of heavy, also feels premium. There you can see the digital side mirrors. These are camera mirrors. They will soon fold out when I open the vehicle. And I can press it on the key fob here.

7:01 Or I can also press this button here. And then you can see door handles fold out. But this is also equipped with the electric doors. They automatically open. And you maybe saw that also the camera mirrors fold out. Yeah. And this... There we go. Hello! Yeah. It's always a question if it's useful or not. I'm not a fan of the digital mirrors. I'm more a fan of the classic mirrors indeed. These windows here, by the way, with dual... glazing. You can see it right here. So let's see how silent it is then when driving, for example. When the doors are electric, of course, when you move them manually, it's not that good for electric motor. And it's also kind of heavy. I'm not the biggest fan of like doors, honestly. But this is pretty cool here. This is bamboo wood, actually.

7:48 And you can hear how the matte surface is feeling alike. And everything is covered nicely. Also this crystalline... levers here for... the windows. This is where you close the door electrically, again, with this button. Also here, everything covered at the inside of the door. So this looks like really high-built quality. Also with a large entry sill badge here, which already begins in the door sill. That's interesting. And then here, this steering wheel also with real buttons. Here, for example, for the... adaptive cruise control on the left side. Right side then also for the volume. So that looks good. And also like this, you know, knurling style on the buttons. Also when you here control the light switch and so on. Here once again, more matte wood. Seats here, they look indeed S-Class alike.

8:35 So I do feel a lot of Mercedes influence here still. And so far for this model, we only heard of animal skin seats and no alternatives so far. Of course, I would wish if they also offer some... animal-friendly options. And then let's get inside. Let's see. Steering wheel here has this small knob for electric control. Goes down... like this and also towards me. And we have also shifting paddles here. It's also interesting. And then we can also put here this front part a little bit... longer. The seats are actually... not too plush. And you can see with 1.89m, 6 foot 2, you can see it's not primarily built for tall Europeans. Gotta say that, you know.

9:20 So here, I have some headroom left. But I've seen it also in some other... Chinese sedans so far, especially the NIO ET5. That was a big problem. But here, like I almost sit in the ceiling. And if I would turn down the sun blind... I'm literally blind because I cannot see the road anymore, you know. So I can just... oh, this is nice, you know, all soft covered and so on. Like illumination around. So I can watch myself in the mirror when I put down the sun blind, but that's actually it. So yeah, I got to say, I would have expected... softer seats. And there you can see also the animal skin surface is not the highest tech. So this is also like the whole brand is using most high tech everywhere... except for the seats because they are meanwhile better materials that are more animal friendly, but also better

10:07 in the... function, in the purpose for the customer. But here, yeah, you can see it's not too much headroom. Interesting is that we have a... roof here as well we can open. So here I can open this shade first. It is a split... thing. So there we go. I can open the front one and the rear one. And... that's about it. So it's just this... shade here, but at least it's like a real button. So this is what I really appreciate about this vehicle. You have so many real buttons and not so much capacitive BS, especially like around here, the steering area and so on. Here by the way, in the ceiling, there is another button to close the doors electrically. So let's try that out and without killing Michel, he has to move a little bit back. So either this one here at the inside of the doors, but that you don't have to reach

10:53 that far. You can also then press... for opening or closing the door... right there. And as another door closing option, I can just... hit the brake. That's a good thing we... Oh! Interesting then. Michel's door is closing as well. But you can... Can you hold against it? Yeah. He's holding tight and then... Oh! Yeah. It was fun... Even funnier for me now because I could see Michel being pushed against the vehicle. But interesting then... We haven't seen that... both car... both doors actually close with hitting the brake. But I mean, in general, it does make sense if you're not... filming... the car. You know what I mean? So once again, you're welcome to this cockpit. You now see the... experience here in the front. 17-inch central... touchscreen, 13-inch instruments, 13-inch... passenger display.

11:42 That's a thing in China, definitely. And European and American customers just say, why would we need that? So it's a... different philosophy indeed. I cannot see it for real from here. It's like the screen that can only be... regarded from the... straight angle. Then it's actually very clear. Other than that, you can see so much from it. Like the reason behind that you're not distracted when like a movie is running there, for example. And... here we have like the... very big frameless mirror. Also pretty cool. And as I said, here there's crystalline buttons also on the top. So I really like... like the button philosophy here. Also, for example, here for the... Oh, no. I was... pressing the brake in the door. I hit Michel from the back again. So much fun today. Here the shifting lever.

12:28 And I pull this like... for drive, reverse. It feels pretty cool. This is how you start the vehicle. This is still the... Chinese version. And this is very interesting here, the 'E3' button, because there you can trigger these special commands. So I'm going to show you... show that to you. Here adaptive cup holders. That's nice. And this vehicle is equipped with two fridges. You can also here set the temperature for the fridge. Aah... There we go? There we go. So you can also set heating. So it can be... a heat box or a cooling box. There we go. This is like fridge number one, and it's... really very cold here inside. It's really freezing. Minus... six degrees. Can also open it from my side. As I said, you can also... heat it. So you can maybe like heat your food in there or something like that.

13:14 Very interesting. In the front here, inductive charging pads on... both sides. And they have this... let's say, this rubber background. That's also a little bit sticky then for the phone. So it doesn't fly around. And you can see it also is then... inductively... charging. And when I hit now this 'E3' button... then you can see on the screen, I have the... special... rear wheel steering functions. For example, here, the... the crab walk. I can activate here that the car can like... drive sideways, so to speak... like around an obstacle. Or also this so-called PCT, the car can be moved around in a circle, you know, like where the... where the front wheel is really sticky and then you move it around.

14:01 Or you can also, you know... park in the car with that. So very interesting functions. And you can see here also the whole screen. Like all the animations and so on. Everything is... super, super... quick. So there's a lot of... processing power behind everything. It's of course Tesla-esque from this design. Because Tesla really set the standard there in this industry. And just look at that. I mean, this is also something the Germans have to work on. When I click something, it's there like... immediately. There's no... loading time. Only here, the temperature is once again in the lower part. Yeah. So there's no physical dial for temperature. This is something I would... still wish in this vehicle for. Let's look here at the glove box part.

14:48 Pressing this here. And this slot here is actually a slot for a microphone. For a karaoke microphone. It's not here in this vehicle. But usually you can pull... like a microphone out from this slot. And then activate the karaoke mode in the display. And then start singing. That's also a big thing in China. They are really into karaoke. Also in some other... countries in Asia, of course, that are really into karaoke. Not such a thing in Europe or in the US. But I mean, if customers want that in certain markets, definitely also... a fun thing to do. By the way, I can also use this gentleman function. And here control the... passenger seat from here. I have controls here on the side. So this is also possible to move it. Or for example, let's say you are like a chauffeur.

15:33 And then like the passengers going in the rear, you can already move the seat forward. That is also possible. Then you have a lot of space here in the lower part. Also with this fabric cladding. You have USB-C charging here in the lower parts. And also USB-A. So both is possible. And once again, I can just say like everything you touch and feel is really... high quality. That is really on the positive side. Yeah, it's just that... I think with the seating position, the space they offer for the driver, especially seating comfort. That is something that I still really have to work on. I feel the longer I sit here. And the driver POV, once again, with the real buttons. Then we have the digital instruments. You can also adjust some things in there, what you want to see and so on. Speed then top part. There you can also see for the plug-in hybrid,

16:19 the battery status plus the... petrol. And then it says here almost a thousand kilometers of range in total. Very interesting. And you also get a head-up display, which I've said at the moment to snow mode. That you can see it better a little bit. Now the rear luxury experience. Yeah, also in the rear, we have the dual glazed windows. Also lower then right here. There we go. And you can see it... here. So it looks pretty nice. Also, once again, with a nice wood at the inside of the doors. Put it up again. There we go. Also this covering at the inside of the doors. Again, by the way, these are also the emergency... locks here for the doors when you want to manually open them. And then what we can do here on this chauffeur side. Let's move the seat as forward as possible and see how much space we got.

17:06 And also how much the seat is going forward and upward and so on. So let's see. That seems to be it. And I mean, yeah. Look at that. I mean, this is a lot of space. And here, these are the controls then to control the front part of the seat and the back part. I can better show you that on the other side. So there we go. And then when I'm sitting here, I can here... put the lower part a little bit longer. No, that's not me farting. It's the seat. So that's actually a pretty cool function. And here, then also, the back part of the seat can be moved more upright or more in a sleeping position. And then here with 1.89 (6'2"), it still barely works. More to here. But when I put my head to the side, like, it's still close, but it works. You can also put down these mirrors here.

17:54 They're very beautiful. Have this LED illumination around. So that's also cool for the... I mean, ah, there we go. Yeah, it's adjustable that you can... see yourself as well. Yeah, there we go. So that's a nice luxury feature. And as I said here, this one can be like, separately... closed, for example. And another door opener also here for the rear seats that you can press this one and then open and close the door here as well. And then we come... to the middle part here. First of all, here in the front, it's a climate unit. And then underneath, it's like a description of what you see because it's hard to really see it from eye level. That's why you see here the description of what you can actually find there. It's interesting. Everything is the flat floor. That's actually pretty cool.

18:39 And the thing is, you have a lot of space here in the rear. Definitely a lot of space. But once again, the seat surface is not too soft, as I said here also in the front. But actually, the comfort is better in the rear than in the front in this vehicle. Then even more interesting is here, the middle part. You can use it as a seat, but it's... yeah, that is kind of stiff and feeling lost. It's more about folding this one down here. Then you have... cup holders. Yeah, that's what you see, what can happen to bright animal skin pretty quickly. And here you have the second fridge. There we go. This once again, really, really cold. The typical champagne stuff. And... let's see, we should be able... Yeah, this can also be heated if you like,

19:25 you know, so... And this can also be... colder. So you can also adjust the temperature quite easily here. So yeah, very interesting. And NIO ET9 would, of course, come close to this one. This is another... another Chinese competitor we've recently reviewed also for you. There's also a video about that one on the internet, but I really went through the roof. So looking forward also how they will actually fight each other then on different markets there as well. What do you think about this rear experience? And what's also actually pretty cool here, even if all four doors are opened, and... I hit the brake, look at that. All doors close at the same time. Let's take a look at the trunk or the boot. Electric hatch here.

20:10 This here, the GT, this... shooting brake form. And you can see here, under this cover, the... trolley does not really fit. So this is not that high... at least in this position. But there is another possibility. Soon I'm going to show that to you. So this one can be removed. And... then, of course, the trolley also fits in... like this. And you also have the possibility to lower this floor. So either you can... lift it up, store something underneath, or you can put it in the lower position like this. And then let's do a try again. Here with the cover, if it works then. Yeah, this works. So... probably maybe... just leave it in the lower position. And then here, the width here is exactly... yeah, see, it's exactly a meter or 40 inches.

20:57 That's the width. And the length here, you know, when these... gaps there. So this is about like 38 inches or... 97 centimeters. And the maximum height here, we are at 27 inches or... 69 centimeters. And you can see here, this is where the fridge is, the rear fridge. That's why we have like this... you know, additional... length here. And then... pretty cool effect. Here we can... there we go, one, two. We can electrically fold the seats. That looks cool. The fridge... stands still. And then here, if we reach through... so we can almost put the full ruler in here with 78 inches or 2 meters. Here we can see a different color, the car in white. And also in the lower trim,

21:43 these here are 20-inch wheels, not the 21-inch wheels. And... luckily for me, also here, this is the one with classic mirrors. So you do not have to go for the camera mirror. At least this is also available. Of course, we have to see then, which of us will be... the final ones on the European market. We'll keep you updated with that. But tell me how you think this one looks like in white and also with the... smaller wheels. And now let's take a detailed look at these individual rear axle steering... technology highlights. The most spectacular one is this narrow turning circle where the rear circles around the front. 4.62 meter is the turning circle there. The question is, where do you need it in your real life? Well, maybe not that often. But of course, it will ensure that you can take the closest corners, so to speak.

22:29 Very interesting to see nevertheless. A more useful feature is the parking in and out feature when you steer this car in this very... narrow parking slot. And then just a little bit of the rear comes around to fit in the parking spot where... maybe otherwise you wouldn't have fitted in. This is a very good thing for everyday driving. However, you always have to think about it does create a lot of wear and tear on the tire. So you always have to think about is it worth the wear and tear of the tire to do this action here? To me, the most astonishing thing is that the technology is that far that it is very easy to do from the inside of the cabin just using or activating it on the touch screen. And that's basically it. And then there's also the so-called crab walk, as we talked about earlier. And for this, I also see somewhat limited use

23:16 that the rear wheels also turn in the parallel direction at slower speeds, giving you some left and right maneuvering also in tight spaces. It looks spectacular, but there also, again, the question is where would you actually use that in your everyday driving life? But definitely everything very interesting to see what this car is capable... of doing. One quick acceleration from 50. That was 100. And now we have some... yeah, like some whoops, as you say, in Supercross. Here, the air suspension doing that very well. A little bumpy road here as well. The air suspension is rather set on a... soft note, gotta say that. Also, when I'm doing some... left and right, we're also soon gonna test it even more.

24:02 But here, first of all, when we can drive a little bit quicker at least, it's very responsive, definitely, from the throttle. And the brakes are also extremely responsive. So you have to be very gentle with the brakes, really hammers in. However, as for the... base recuperation, standard recuperation setting, it's not set on the one-pedal driving. We also had it with other BYD vehicles. It's more like that to let the car roll. Now we go here on this test track. I can do some cornering for you. Here, 60 kilometers an hour. You feel the weight of the vehicle definitely, pushing me a little bit outward. Now I also understand why they do this... technology that the side bolsters are blowing up because on the slick surface, you're also... being slid around... from time to time. But what we already know is that it's... very silent here on the interior.

24:49 So the noise insulation seems to be... really, really... good. And now we can also drive a little bit quicker. Let's do one more acceleration. Put it to 'Sport' mode again. Let's see, from... let's say... from 70 kilometers an hour. Let's go! Now the engine also went on. 150, 170. And in the 'Sport' mode, 120 kilometers an hour. Let's accelerate further. 150. Ah, now also the... engine, once again, gets on. 180 kilometers an hour. You hear that? Not sure what it is. I mean, in general, the noise level is low. But when you're getting to like 180, you hear like, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh, buh. That must come somehow from the... from the wind now, I guess.

25:35 You know? So... yeah, that's... that's interesting. Now we have some bumps in the road. Let's put it here to... 'Normal' again to test a little bit. Now that's like a dip. Yeah, that is very well evened out. Some cobblestones here. And now one more time here, above this surface. Yeah, actually... quite smooth and relaxed. And this will be also very interesting, you know, making a U-turn and using all of that rear-axle steering. Wow. Pretty cool. Now we make one more test here. Autonomous emergency braking, when we drive 50 kilometers an hour. If the car is automatically braking.

26:29 Interesting. I mean, it... puts a lot of stress on your body. But it really, I mean, you maybe saw like... like I switched the brake pedal, like flying over it, hover... hovering over it, but I didn't press the brake. That was all done by the car. So it's good to know that in case, this car would be able to do that. Of course, you shouldn't trust in it. But it's good to know that like, we have this kind of fail-safe. Oh, here it's getting tightened. All that also feels here, the technology that the... side bolsters of the seats are being blown up when I do a turn. That's technology we know already from Mercedes, like, you know, 15 years or 20 years ago. I found it rather a little bit annoying. It's that you, you know, don't fly out of the seat... so to speak. Yeah. And then, for example, when you do the other turn, then the other outside bolster is being blown up.

27:15 So this is another... comfort feature. But yeah, I found it rather a little bit annoying, honestly. What I also noticed is here on the... right side here with my knees, it's super, super tight! So if you have... long legs, like I do, it's super, super narrow here for the knee. So it's constantly hitting this... middle console here. So that's not like, it's not... wide enough, actually. So that's... yeah, that's something to look out for, definitely. And here we do some left and right. First of all in the 'Normal' mode. The steering is... without a dead zone... actually. So... that gives you quite some good feedback, but you have to steer quite a lot, at least in the 'Normal' mode. And let's see if we feel any difference when we switch the driving mode here to 'Sport'. So... this vehicle, it also have the large wheels.

28:03 And now, let's see, when I'm going to do some left and right slalom like this. I also feel the side bolsters once again. Yeah, it's a little bit stiff, a little bit more feedback from that suspension. Let's go back to 'Normal' mode again. Yeah, there you feel it. I mean, the car is not leaning much at all in both modes, but in the 'Sport' mode, more feedback, definitely. So if you prefer that when you have like some, you know, agile situations and so on. And... this is the plug-in hybrid. And as you hear, we are driving all-electric because of this large plug-in hybrid battery. Most of the time, you will drive electric here. At the moment, it has like a range of 160 kilometers of electric and... the total range in 888 kilometers.

28:50 That's why it's not even like... completely full there from the electric part. And I mean it here, at least at lower speeds, it's reasonably silent because of these dual glazed windows. So that's also cool. It does feel sophisticated. It does feel premium here, what I can say so far. Well, as I said earlier in the interior driving part, I can't really find a comfortable seating position. Seats are stiff, and I feel that the ergonomics are also not on top of the game. So this combination of not the best ergonomics, not so much space for your knees, and then I'm sitting like in the ceiling, makes it especially for me with my size, not a suitable vehicle... actually, like from the whole body posture and so on. This vehicle is really about the technology.

29:35 Let's also compare... steering once again, 'Normal' steering, let's see, 'Sport' steering. Yeah, it gets a little bit stiffer than the steering, but I still feel it's set out for a comfortable steering that, you know, it doesn't react... that progressive. It does take a while and so on. But overall, the car... feels, at least from like the first driving impressions, I can gather here feels somewhat well built. I can also see the digital mirrors. We've also saw the other version without them. I would prefer it. Here, once again, the placement is actually quite good, that you see what you're doing and you don't have to... watch like completely far away. But once again, the biggest thing is that it's a close focus.

30:21 It's not a far focus. That's the main problem actually. And you might think about, wait a minute, when we have the perspective to the front, why is he driving so slow at the moment? And what is this... car they're doing in front of us? The thing is, I want to deliver as many driving impressions for you as possible. And the only way they allow it here to do like some free driving is with limited speed. And when a car-to-car vehicle, where you can do photos from like from the outside, drives in the front. Super interesting vehicle for sure. And a lot of promising technology, large plug-in hybrid battery. I have to see, of course, about the efficiency and the range of the pure electric version, where we can do like an extensive long driving test. But the main question is, of course,

31:07 what about the price? So it's not like the very official figure is not out yet. But what we heard is that it's supposed to start at around 100,000 euros. We have to see and confirm that later to you. But then the main question is, of course, you can come with a lot of technology on the one hand, but will the customer also accept a new brand at similar prices like the premium competition? And what about customer service and servicing the vehicles and so on? I mean... it's not sure yet if they can actually do that. This is always a problem for all of the new brands that they have to prove themselves to the customer first. So far, the new Chinese brands are not that successful in the sales numbers on the European market, especially not in Germany. It's tough terrain for sure. At the same time, the Chinese brands come up with so much advanced technology

31:53 and have so many... engineers, which are often very, very young, actually, in comparison to the German engineers, and come up with fresh and new ideas. And this is, of course, something they can also work with. So it will be very interesting if they can succeed or not. This was like the, you know, like the first shot here for you, the first video. And we'll keep following this brand then for you, especially if you are interested. And now you should compare the classic competition.

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