BYD Launches Denza in Europe—Another Mighty Impressive EV Brand the US Won’t Get

Denza was originally founded in 2010 as a joint venture between BYD and Mercedes-Benz, launching its first car into the Chinese market in 2014. Now wholly owned by BYD, it went through a significant rebrand in 2021, with Wolfgang Egger—who previously led design teams at Audi and Lamborghini—joining at the helm as chief designer.

The Z9GT has been chodsen by BYD as the Denza car to launch into the market because it apparently represents the “best of BYD technology and the best of BYD design,” Li says.

At its heart is Denza’s own e³ Platform, which brings a number of headline features. Certainly one of the most striking is its rear-wheel dual-motor independent steering, which enables the right and left wheels to steer independently of the front axle and of each other. As well as allowing drivers to toe in and toe out of tight spaces, it also allows the car to “crab walk”—where the auto seemingly glides in a sideways motion—up to an industry-leading angle of 15 degrees.

This eminently useful lateral trickery is all controlled by Z9GT’s Vehicle Motion Control architecture, which can take over braking, suspension, and steering—even in the case of a high-speed tire blowout, where it can adjust the torque of the unaffected tires, redistributing the power at speeds of over 110 mph.

The e³ Platform allows the Z9GT to adopt a Cell-to-Body structure, which sees the Blade Battery integrated into the car’s architecture, as seen in the BYD Seal. Aside from a stiffening boon to the chassis, this ensures a fully flat floor and helps to create an additional 15-millimeter vertical space in the cabin for as much room inside as possible.

Speaking of the interior, expect suitably premium leather seats and wooden accents across the dash, with 128-color lighting for setting the cabin ambience to your taste. Front seats will get 12-way electric adjustment and 10-point massage and heating, along with a supposedly world-first execution of active side bolsters, which share their air tanks with the car’s air suspension for additional support during cornering.