Chinese cars may no longer be universally very affordable in the sense that they’re not all $10,000 subcompacts, but they’re still arguably unbeatable when it comes to value for money. This apparently also applies to its supercars, as debuting at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is Chinese auto giant BYD’s 1,580-horsepower electric two-door Denza Z, which can go from 0 to 62 mph in about 2 seconds and charge a nearly full battery in less than 10 minutes. Its price will also be lower than Porsche’s mid-level 911 Carrera GTS.
The Denza Z uses three electric motors (two rear, one front), allowing the standard coupe model to accelerate from zero to 62 mph in 2.25 seconds and top out at 186 mph. Meanwhile, the more aggressive racing version on semi-slicks accelerates to 62 mph in 1.96 seconds and can top out at 217 mph.
BYD
That Racing Edition (above) replaces the regular version’s air suspension with track-focused coil springs and adds tweaked front cooling, a carbon-fiber front splitter, vortex generators on the underbody, and an adjustable rear spoiler made of carbon fiber. The racing rear seats can be replaced with a roll cage and carbon trim. Magnetic adjustable dampers and carbon-ceramic brakes are standard, and there’s a convertible Spyder model for those who want to go really fast in a Chinese EV but also want to see the sky. If you’re unfamiliar, Denza is the luxury arm of BYD, like, say, Lexus is to Toyota.
Beautiful, livable, getting in the ‘ring
BYD is also bringing a special edition to the Nürburgring this fall so it can try to break some lap records. It will get “race-grade dual-layer composite bodywork” (read: carbon body panels) as well as an active front diffuser and a rear wing flap that can reduce drag by 40% and produce over 4,400 pounds of downforce at 186 mph. However, the real upgrade will likely be more than 1,973 hp of total power, reducing the 0-62 time to less than 1.7 seconds.
BYD
It all may look and sound quite fanciful, but in regular form, the Z looks like it could serve as a decent grand tourer. It’s over nine feet long, seats four, and has a trunk of 8.8 cubic feet. Inside, there is a 12.8-inch center touchscreen and a very lucky 8.88 inch instrument display.
Penned by the same Wolfgang Egger responsible for the Alfa Romeo 8C, the Denza Z might not be the world’s most exclusive supercar, but it’s far from bad looking. It is clean and neat; I’m particularly fond of the profile view which gives a purposeful, handsome, classic supercar shape.
However, these numbers are absurd
The Z’s second-generation BYD Blade battery has a capacity of 76 kWh and provides a range of 254 miles (on the European WLTP cycle) in the coupe; The heavier Spider gets 248 miles of range while the Racing is good for 236 miles. It uses BYD’s ridiculously quick flash charging that is said to charge the Z from 10% to 97% in nine minutes. From 10% to 70%, by the way, happens in just five minutes.
BYD
The most notable part of all this may just be the price, because in the UK, the Denza Z Coupe starts at £142,000, which is almost two grand less than the base Carrera GTS in the same market. The Spider is £159,900, a tick cheaper than the Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, while the Racing model is £172,900, thirty grand less than the 911 Turbo S. (At today’s exchange rates, the base Denza Z coupe costs $192,000, about ten grand more than the 2027 911 GTS here.)
Are there things that Porsche does better than the Denza? Obviously, I haven’t played the latter, but after playing the former, I’d say it probably does. Still, the Z is a pretty amazing achievement in terms of how much horsepower and tech you get for the dollar, and it’s definitely a Chinese EV we wouldn’t mind seeing on our shores.
