BYD’s New Denza Z More Than Doubles A 911 Turbo S’s Power For Less Than GTS Money

Electric supercars have a habit of producing ridiculous power and acceleration numbers, but are usually accompanied by a ridiculous price. Denza wants to change that with the Z, which outsprints a 911 Turbo S to 62 mph (100 kmh) and makes double the power, while costing less than a mid-range GTS.

Unveiled today at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, BYD-owned Denza’s Z costs from £142,900 (about €167,400 / $191,400 at current rates) in coupe form in the UK, where a 911 Carrera 4 GTS costs £145,900 (€170,900 / $195,400). The open-top Spider starts at £159,900 (€187,300 / $214,100), and the track-focused Racing version costs £172,900 (€202,500 / $231,500), which compares with £199,500 (€233,700 / $267,100) for the new 911 Turbo S.

Denza hasn’t confirmed home-market numbers, but local estimates put Chinese pricing at around ¥400,000 to ¥500,000 ($58,600-73,200), a fraction of the British ask and a sign of what shipping, tariffs, and selling far from Shenzhen do to the sticker.

Three Motors, One Platform

All three versions of the Z ride on Denza’s new e3 Sports Car Platform and use the same triple-motor setup. One motor drives the front axle while two independently power the rear wheels, producing a combined 1,582 hp (1,604 PS / 1,180 kW) and 915 lb-ft (1,240 Nm) of torque.

More: Denza’s 1,139-HP Wagon Will Now Drift Any Shape You Draw On The Screen

The Coupe reaches 62 mph in 2.25 seconds (Porsche claims 2.5 seconds for the 701 hp / 711 PS Turbo S), while the Racing cuts that to just 1.96 seconds with optional semi-slick tyres and boosts the top speed from 186 mph (300 km/h) to 217 mph (350 km/h).

Building Up To An EV Record Attempt

A fourth model, the Z Special Edition, which Denza says is a Nurburgring natural, makes over 1,973 hp (2,000 PS / 1,471 kW), and hits 62 mph in less than 1.7 seconds. But the automaker is saving more details about that one for later, presumably when it takes a crack at the Ring EV record.

Every Z packs a 76 kWh second-generation Blade Battery that supports BYD Group’s latest FLASH Charging technology. On BYD’s new 1,500 kW chargers, Denza claims the battery can jump from 10 to 70 percent in just five minutes, or reach 97 percent in only nine. That’s close to petrol tank-filling territory, though it’ll be a while before those chargers are commonplace outside China, even if their rollout has been confirmed for Europe.

Range varies from 236 WLTP miles (380 km) for the Racing to 254 miles (409 km) for the basic Coupe, which at 2,230 kg (4,916 lbs) is actually 20 kg (44 lbs) lighter. The 2,300 kg (5,070 lbs) Spider claims 248 miles (399 km) between fills.

Denza didn’t leave the chassis out of the fun, adding magnetorheological dampers, carbon-ceramic brakes, torque vectoring and even a compass turn function that lets the car pivot around its front axle. And the long 2,780 mm (109.5 inches) wheelbase (a 911’s is 2,450 mm / 96.5 inches) means that while it looks like a traditional supercar, it’s actually got space for four, though the rears do look tiny.

Supercar With Massage Seats

The cabin sounds lavish in typical tech-heavy Chinese EV fashion, with massage seats, a Devialet audio system, ambient lighting, a 12.8-inch Google-equipped infotainment system, and a digital rear-view mirror all fitted as standard. There’s also a configurable virtual engine soundtrack plus dedicated Boost and Track modes.

On paper, it all sounds great, but as Porsche and Rimac know, Western buyers of luxury and high-end performance machinery generally aren’t interested in electric cars. They tend to want combustion power, which is why Porsche recently asserted that it no longer had plans to make an electric 911. But this package looks strong enough to persuade a few to at least take a look at what’s on offer.

Denza