BYD opened in August an All-Terrain Circuit to show off its technological ambitions, where vehicles climb dunes, float in a swimming pool and slide sideways into parking spaces.
Located in Zhengzhou, central China, the venue is the first in the country built specifically for new energy vehicles.
EV was invited as part of the first international media group to tour the facility, which includes eight themed zones — from a Guinness World Record-certified indoor sand dune constructed with 6,200 tons of desert sand to a 70-meter water pool.
The U8 — a SUV under the Yangwang brand — drove directly into the pool, with an instructor driving.
The large SUV floated within seconds of entry before turning around at the far end and completing a U-turn to return to the entrance, exiting the water under its own power.
Once back on dry land, the vehicle expelled the water it had taken in during the crossing. Below is the video of the demo.
In a new area, BYD‘s circuit features a 1,758-meter racetrack with a 550-meter straightaway and an area to perform emergency moose-avoidance maneuvers, 0-100km/h launches and smart parking.
During the visit, the carmaker used vehicles of its three sub-brands Denza, Yangwang and Fangchengbao.
The Denza Z9 GT performed a “compass turn,” pivoting on a single wheel for a tight U-turn, while its crab-walk mode allowed the car to slide diagonally into a space.
On the racetrack, a professional driver pushed the Yangwang U9 supercar to 204 km/h despite heavy rain.
The driver told EV the car typically reaches 250 km/h in these demonstration runs when conditions are dry.
The showcase came just days after BYD unveiled the Yangwang U9 Xtreme supercar, which set a certified top speed of 496.22 km/h at Germany’s ATP Papenburg proving ground, surpassing the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+.
With the new record, the U9 became the fastes production car ever made.
Just a few kilometeres away from the circuit, BYD has built one of its largest and most advanced plants.
Established in 2021 in the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, the complex covers passenger vehicles, batteries, power systems, and new materials.
The facility reached full operations in April 2023 after just 17 months of construction.
Today, one new energy passenger vehicle rolls off the line roughly every minute, while a power battery cell is completed every three seconds, according to the company.
In 2023, the site produced more than 200,000 vehicles and 7 GWh of batteries, generating output worth 33.5 billion yuan ($4.6 billion).
Production surged in 2024, when Zhengzhou built about 550,000 passenger vehicles valued at 86 billion yuan ($11.8 billion).
BYD says future capacity will expand to 1.5 million to 2 million vehicles annually, with output worth as much as 200 billion yuan.
The plant currently makes the Denza B5 and B8, BYD Seal 07 DM-i, Song Pro DM-i, Song L DM-i, the Shark pickup (for export markets), and the Seagull/Dolphin Surf small cars.
BYD‘s exports accounted for less than 10% of sales in 2024 but are expected to climb to between 800,000 and 1 million vehicles in 2025 — about one-fifth of total deliveries — according to Li Yunfei, the company’s general manager of branding and public relations.
The automaker already sells in more than 70 countries and opened in June a new plant in Brazil.
A new factory in Hungary is set to start production by the year end with the Dolphin Surf (known as Seagull in China) being the first model to be produced there.
BYD brand passenger vehicles, including the Dynasty and Ocean series, sold a combined 352,015 units in September, down 11.7% from a year earlier but up 3.7% from August.
Its premium Denza marque delivered 12,407 units in the month, up 20.5% year-on-year and 3.5% sequentially.
