- BYD just pulled off an unusual viral stunt to showcase its SUV’s strength.
- Engineers repeatedly dropped a huge tree on the Yangwang U8 hybrid.
- The cant rail takes a mild beating, but the door still opens after the test.
BYD’s YangWang U8 already has a CV that reads like a physics glitch. It can spin like a tank. It can swim in water. It can crab walk. It has more power than many supercars. And now it can add surviving an attack from an apartment block-sized palm tree to its list of party tricks.
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The Chinese automaker staged a highly cinematic durability test, dropping a massive royal palm straight onto the U8L’s roof to show off how tough the big luxury SUV really is.
Can It Really Take a Hit?
This was not some gentle tap from above, either. BYD’s engineers repeatedly hoisted the tree to a vertical position and let it crash down on the roof three times from increasing distances to magnify the force. According to YangWang, the maximum impact energy hit 50.4 kilojoules, which equates to 40,100 lb-ft, or 54,000 Nm.
For reference, that is equivalent to an air conditioning unit falling from the roof of a forty story building, Chinese media says. It is also far beyond anything required in normal safety standards which makes sense because normal safety standards do not usually involve tropical forestry raining from the sky.
Still, the number of Explorer rollover fatalities would probably be a whole lot smaller, and possibly non-existent, if Ford had subjected its big-selling SUV to this kind of testing a few years back.
The long wheelbase U8L’s response to being assaulted by the colossal tree? It barely seemed to notice. Sure, the cant rail – the structural metal above the door – developed a dent that got bigger with each strike, but the driver’s door still opened without drama, the glass didn’t smash and the suspension and wheels didn’t collapse.
YangWang says that is the whole point. If the structure stays intact enough for passengers to climb out and rescuers to get in, you have turned a freak accident into a manageable situation. In the video, the SUV simply starts up again and rolls away like a palm tree crash is just another Tuesday.
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How Far Will BYD Push It?
The stunt is the latest installment in the U8’s ongoing PR campaign to prove that it is the toughest luxury SUV China has ever built, and potentially the toughest in the world.
Earlier demonstrations showed the vehicle spinning on the spot using its quad motor powertrain and floating across water with its sealed body. What would you like to see the 1,184 hp (883 kW / 1,200 PS) hybrid U8 do next?
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BYD
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