Yangwang U8

History

BYD unveiled its Yangwang luxury brand and the U8 on 5 January 2023, opened pre-sales at the Shanghai auto show on 18 April 2023, and officially launched the U8 in China on 20 September 2023 at RMB 1.098 million (about $150,600) ^[2][3]. It came in a Premium Edition and an Off-road Master Edition, and CarNewsChina called it the most expensive mass-produced Chinese electric car at the time ^[1][2].

BYD showed the U8 in Europe at the Geneva motor show in February 2024 and brought Yangwang models to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK that July ^[13]. Figures from China EV DataTracker cited by CarNewsChina put deliveries at 10,126 between November 2023 and June 2025, with monthly sales below 100 by mid-2025 ^[13]. In September 2025 Yangwang launched the longer three-row U8L at RMB 1.28 million (about $179,800), and it keeps the emergency floating mode ^[14].

Design

The U8 is a ladder-frame SUV 5,319 mm (209.4 in) long that weighs about 3,460 kg (7,628 lb) empty ^[1][4][10]. Its 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline engine is not connected to the wheels and only charges the battery ^[1]. Four 220 kW motors, one at each wheel, give a combined 880 kW (1,180 hp) ^[4]. Because each wheel is driven on its own, the SUV can spin in place in a so-called tank turn and keep driving after a tire blows out ^[4]. A hydraulic suspension adjusts ride height over about 150 mm (6 in), and BYD rates the Premium Edition to wade through 1,000 mm (39 in) of water and the snorkel-equipped Off-road Master Edition through 1,400 mm (55 in) ^[1][3].

Emergency floating mode: what BYD claims

According to BYD's launch information, sensors watch water depth and wheel slip while the car is in wading mode, and if the water gets deeper than the wading limit the emergency floating mode switches on by itself ^[1][6]. The engine shuts off, the suspension rises to its highest setting, the windows close, the air conditioning switches to recirculation, the sunroof opens as an escape hatch, and the center screen shows water depth and the car's attitude ^[1]. Yangwang's current Chinese website says the mode activates automatically within 5 seconds of the car going into the water ^[5]. Afloat, the U8 has no propeller or jet; it moves by spinning its wheels and steers by driving the wheels on each side at different speeds ^[7][8].

BYD's performance figures are modest. At launch it said the U8 could stay afloat for 30 minutes, move forward at 3 km/h (1.9 mph) and even turn on the spot in the water ^[1][4]. In November 2025 BYD again described controlled movement on water for up to 30 minutes in emergencies ^[11]. The company calls the feature a passively triggered emergency function for flash floods or deep water met off road, advises owners not to use it without good reason, and says the car must be taken in for a full inspection afterward ^[1][4]. It also claims an IP68 waterproof rating ^[1].

What demonstrations showed

The demonstrations described here were all arranged by BYD or Yangwang ^[6][7][8]. In its launch video the wheels lost contact with the bottom in about 1.2 m (47 in) of water, and in November 2023 BYD released a video of a camouflaged U8 floating and turning ^[6][10]. In a video of a pool demonstration that BYD set up with a steel ramp, reported by The Drive in October 2024, the heavy nose sat lower than the tail, the car turned slowly using its wheels, and water poured out of the door and tailgate sills when it drove out ^[7].

In a review published in November 2025, Top Gear rode in a U8 through water with a Yangwang driver at the wheel. Its reviewer reported that the windows closed and the sunroof opened at about 1 m (3.3 ft) of depth, that the body took on water but none reached the cabin, and that the car was slow and turned in wide arcs ^[8]. Autocar, which drove a U8 on a UK circuit, was given no water demonstration and called the floating ability alleged ^[9]. No independent test that measured the claimed 30 minutes or 3 km/h was found.

Limits and criticism

The U8 is an SUV with an escape feature, not a boat. CarBuzz noted that a vehicle moving at about 1.9 mph (3 km/h) could not make headway against fast floodwater, and that a waterproof rating says nothing about currents or debris ^[10]. CarNewsChina pointed out that BYD warns against using the mode to cross lakes and rivers for fun, yet its own marketing showed the car doing just that ^[1].

The U8 has also drawn attention in real floods. In September 2025, during flooding from Super Typhoon Ragasa in Zhuhai, a U8 was filmed being driven repeatedly along a flooded street, throwing up waves that damaged shopfronts, according to CarNewsChina ^[12].

Photos

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