At the launch of the Denza D9 today, the Chinese carmaker also brought out a left-hand-drive unit of the Z9 GT on stage, briefly teasing the electric gran tourer for the Malaysian market.
The launch of the Denza Z9 GT in Malaysia has essentially already been confirmed, with BYD Malaysia Managing Director, Eagle Zhao saying at the media Q&A session today, “very soon… we will also introduce more and more models into Malaysia, which also includes the Z9 GT”.
While no timeframe has been confirmed just yet, BYD Asia Pacific Sales Division General Manager, Liu Xueliang, divulged that a “second [Denza] model will be introduced this year”. Could we see the Denza Z9 GT make landfall in Malaysia as soon as 2025?
Designed under the leadership of BYD’s global design director, Wolfgang Egger (previously Alfa Romeo, Audi, and Lamborghini), the Denza Z9 GT bucks the market trend with a sleek shooting brake-styled silhouette, instead of being yet-another-SUV.
Key design highlights on the outside include the wide horizontal exterior lighting, with the taillights in particular giving off a passing resemblance to the Genesis cars, a unique character line on the sides that integrate into the fender air vents, and a sloping roofline down the C-pillars.
The Denza Z9 GT is a big car, measuring nearly 5.2 metres in length, nearly two metres in width, plus a 3,125 mm wheelbase, so no surprises that it’s incredibly spacious inside. Fittingly, the space is complemented by luxurious interior appointments such as cream Nappa leather upholstery, ‘Zero-Gravity’ lie-flat front passenger seats, a Devialet premium sound system, two fridges, and a massive panoramic glass roof with separate front and rear sliding sunshades.
The highlight of the Denza Z9 GT, however, is undoubtedly its powertrain. It’s available in China as both a plug-in hybrid and full electric model – both with three electric motors courtesy of the marque’s e3 platform, with two on the rear axle giving it genuine torque vectoring capabilities.
On the former, a 2.0-litre turbocharged inline-four engine functions as a generator to power the motors, resulting in a total system output of 870 hp (640 kW), sufficient for a 0-100 km/h sprint in just 3.6 seconds. Denza claims that the fifth-generation DM hybrid system is capable of a 201 km pure EV range (CLTC) from its 38.5 kWh Blade lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, leading to a total range of 1,100 km with petrol assistance.
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The pure electric powertrain takes the performance credentials even further with its output boosted to a whopping 963 hp (710 kW) and 710 Nm, dropping its century sprint time down to just 3.4 seconds. With a 100.1 kWh LFP battery pack, Denza claims an electric driving range of 630 km (CLTC).
On top of its raw grunt, the Denza Z9 GT also comes with dual chamber air suspension as standard for better handling, and the ability to lower itself by some 50 mm. A rear-wheel steering feature is also standard here, capable of up to 20 degrees of rotation, which not only shortens its turning radius to just 4.62 mm, but also enables the car to “crab walk” and rotate (almost) in place similar to the electric G-Wagen’s G-turn feature – a feature that was demonstrated on stage today.
We don’t know how much the Denza Z9 GT will be priced when it eventually makes its official debut here in Malaysia, but considering the aggressive price tag of the D9 MPV, we won’t be surprised if it significantly undercuts its rivals here, whatever that maybe.
GALLERY
