Tesla's Elon Musk promised the Cybertruck would float, and Rivian said the R1T would debut with a skid steer functionality. Today, we don't have either. But get this: China's BYD made an SUV that can do both. As a bonus, it also looks like an evolved Land Rover Defender 130. California Governor Gavin Newsom tried it out, and here's what he had to say.
How impressive can a partly zero-emission vehicle be? Well, the YangWang U8 surely tries to sweep you off your feet! It does cost around $150,000, but it comes with four electric motors that fee off of a 49-kWh high-voltage battery. It also hides a 2.0-liter gas-powered engine under its hood.
The SUV is an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) that can offer a combined range of around 620 miles and puts out up to 1,180 hp and 944 lb-ft of torque.
Being an EREV means the small fossil fuel-hungry engine runs to charge the high-voltage battery. The magnetic motors do all the hard work. The 2.0-liter powerplant acts like an efficient generator running at constant rpm 99% of the time and intervenes only when a burst of power is required. That's how gas consumption remains low.
But we must say that further testing is required before we can be sure about how the solution behaves in a real-world scenario.
Besides having an interesting drivetrain that should enable it to be environmentally friendly most of the time and ready for adventure off the beaten path when the owner feels like it, the YangWang U8 can also drive through water up to a depth of 55 inches when equipped with the Off-Road Master Edition package.
Photo: BYD | YangWang
On top of that, the boxy SUV can also behave like a skid steer. It does the tank turn with ease, making Rivian R1T owners jealous. The American automaker decided the feature would not be in the environment's best interest, so it moved forward without it. Fret not; the upcoming all-electric G-Wagen – the EQG – will most likely have this capability.
California's Governor got to ride in one YangWang U8, and he described it as another leap in technology, even though the vehicle isn't exclusively electric. But we get it. We would most likely say the same about a Defender-like machine that can comfortably float.
Gavin Newsom says the cooperation with China must continue and underlined that "despite major differences (…) humanity is what should drive us to work together to stop the greatest existential threat our planet has ever known." The Governor pointed out that California and China are two of the world's largest economies that must continue cooperating to solve the climate crisis.
Photo: UFO on Weibo
Newsom met with many Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping. The American official also signed a memorandum of understanding with the province of Guangdong that sets the framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and establishes new investments in climate programs.
California's Governor also visited Israel and Hong Kong before arriving in China.
Tesla, the company that challenged what once was a very conservative industry, moved its headquarters from California to Texas in late 2021 but retained an engineering center in the Golden State.
Finally, China is California's largest trading partner. Last year, the exchange of goods amounted to nearly $166 billion. Newsom's state is America's most important economy. It has a gross domestic product of about $3.5 trillion.
The governor of California Gavin Newsom is in China for a week-long visit. He toured BYD today Here is he test driving BYD’s upscale SUV U8.
The purpose of his China visit is to discuss “climate change”. Isn’t that John Kerry’s job since he is the presidential envoy for… pic.twitter.com/HHn32TSrtJ
Divorce is not an option. The only way we can solve the climate crisis is to continue our long-standing cooperation with China. As two of the world’s largest economies, the work we do together is felt in countless communities on both sides of the Pacific.
Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one. Full profile
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