Shenzhen, China - BYD, the world's leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles (NEVs), officially unveiled its high-end sub-brand Yangwang and its core technology known as the e4 Platform. The hardcore new energy off-road SUV Yangwang U8 and the all-electric supercar Yangwang U9, both priced around RMB 1 million, made their debuts. All future models of the Yangwang brand will come standard with the e4 Platform.

The e4 Platform is the first mass-produced four-motor independent drive technology platform in China, which is designed to guarantee leading-class level safety for customers. Compared with conventional fuel vehicles' powertrain, it can precisely adjust the dynamics of the four wheels thanks to the four-motor independent vector control.

Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD

"The Yangwang brand will be the first to apply the cutting-edge technologies of BYD Group and offer excel safety, performance and experience to customers even in extreme driving conditions”, said Wang Chuanfu, Chairman and President of BYD, at the launch event.

e4 Platform: Reshaping the Power System to Provide Next-level Vehicle Safety

The born of a high-end marque often turns out to be the result of the development of market-leading core technologies, and the e4 Platform is the starting point of the Yangwang brand.

The e4 Platform is a power system with a four-motor independent drive as the core, which completely reconfigures the attributes of new energy vehicles in terms of perception, decision-making, and execution, reshaping the power system capabilities of conventional fuel vehicles.

The rudiment of the technology appeared in the ET concept car launched by BYD twenty years ago, which was inspired by the perfect posture control of a running cheetah. Four electric motors separately drive four wheels, like four sturdy legs of a cheetah, delivering better safety and performance. This also marks an innovative drive technology that is finally mass-produced upon critical breakthroughs in three core fields, electric motor, battery, and electronic controller after twenty years' efforts.

The e4 Platform is regarded as a disruptive technology in that it breaks away from the conventional technical architecture to provide vehicle safety in a new approach.

Subject to historical and technical limitations, conventional fuel vehicles are not so good at body stability control in terms of the speed and precision of perception. Slow response, low efficiency, low power, and low differentiation among the four wheels are some typical problems at the execution level. In contrast to the power system of fuel vehicles, the e4 Platform is capable of independent regulation of wheel-side dynamics at millisecond speeds with a more perceptive electric drive system and thereby is able to better control the vehicle body.

The e4 Platform can provide greater safety for users, as it can control the vehicle's movement through real-time wheel toque regulation. For example, after a single-tire blowout, the technology can precisely adjust the torque of the remaining three wheels with millisecond precision, helping the vehicle to stop in a more stable manner. This function is expected to minimize the risk of secondary accidents.

Models equipped with the e4 Platform also adopt IP68-rated waterproof and body sealing technology to allow the vehicles to float on the water through the four-wheel independent vector controlling, showing far greater potential for the application of dynamics technology compared with conventional fuel vehicles.

Besides safety, the e4 Platform also offers ultimate performance and driving experience. It has delivered a maximum speed of 20,500 rpm and an output of horsepower exceeding 1,100, enabling the vehicles to run in various conditions including on streets, off-road, and on racetracks. Not long ago, a Yangwang test vehicle equipped with the e4 Platform succeeded in the challenge of slope climbing tests in the Alashan desert, fully demonstrating the immense potential of the e4 Platform in four-wheel grip control.

With the e4 Platform, the vehicle can perform a 360-degree tank turn on highly-adhesive pavements such as tarmac, with the use of the highly integrated electric motor developed in house.

Thanks to the independent positive and negative torque output capabilities, even if the steering and brakes are not working, the e4 Platform allows the vehicle to brake from 100 km/h in less than 40 meters and to steer in less than 12 meters, making the full-size SUV as flexible as A0-class cars.

Offering robust vehicle safety for the customers is in the blood of BYD and Yangwang, and its e4 Platform has further enriched BYD's "four-in-one" safety system that guarantees the safety of battery's raw materials, battery cells, battery packs, and vehicles, and well-positioned Yangwang in the high-end market with its core technical strengths.

Premium NEV Models Priced Around RMB 1MN: Yangwang Hits the Road with A Hardcore Off-road SUV and An Electric Supercar

Two models U8 and U9 from the Yangwang brand made their debut at the launch event, both equipped with the e4 Platform with top-of-the-range performance in extreme conditions.