BYD’s posh push with its upmarket Denza brand is set to go off-road next year with the arrival of the B5 4×4.
The B5 is set to be the third new Denza product arriving in the UK after the Z9 GT Porsche Taycan/Panamera rival and the Denza D9 luxury MPV – both set to arrive next year, too.
The B5 has been on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where we were impressed with its ability to scale a very steep ramp, as well as the space, quality and tech available inside the car.
It’s a big SUV measuring 4,890mm in length, 1,970mm in width and 1,920mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,800mm – not too far off the dimensions of the Land Rover Defender 110, with a similar shape, too.
Like the Defender, the Denza will be available as a plug-in hybrid using BYD’s DM-i system, but the Denza will go much further on electric power alone than the Land Rover – probably around 50 miles when it arrives in the UK, twice the real-world range of the Defender.
Charging is swift for a PHEV model with a maximum charging speed on a fast charger of 100kW. That means a 30 to 80 per cent charging time of just 16 minutes for the 31.8kWh BYD Blade Battery.
The car is quick, too, with its combination of a turbocharged 1.5-litre petrol engine and two electric motors on the front and rear axles fed by the battery getting this big SUV from 0-62mph in just 4.8 seconds – the £148,000 Defender Octa manages the 0-60mph sprint in 3.8 seconds from its twin-turbo V8.
The Denza B5 won’t cost anywhere near that price, though – costs haven’t been mentioned, but we’d expect the B5 to start at less than half the price of the Defender Octa at potentially around £70,000.
The rugged, square proportions of the B5 are very much like the Defender, right down to the square panel that sits in the window line above the rear wheel arch. There are large 18- or 20-inch wheels sitting within squared-off wheel arches with thick black plastic cladding, while the spare wheel sits on the rear door.
Inside, the quality of the leather upholstery and switchgear is impressive, as is space in the five seats. There’s no seven seat version, but there’s a decent-sized boot offering 475-litres of space.
In keeping with a car that’s set to go off-roading, there will be Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) charging enabling you to use a three-pin socket to power external devices – ideal for camping or when using a pump to blow up a dinghy.
The dash layout is less utilitarian than the Defender’s with a big 15-inch central touchscreen and two 12-inch screens in front of the driver and front passenger. There are plenty of storage spaces, too, plus grab handles for when the going gets rough.
Denza will have its own network of dealers in the UK, too, as confirmed to us by BYD Special Advisor Alfredo Altavilla recently.
“Dealing with premium customers is a different job than dealing with the mass market customers,” said Altavilla. “We believe that only investors who are already used to dealing with customers in that segment deserve to be appointed Denza dealers. Some of them will be in common with BYD, but most of them will be specific to Denza.”
