BYD’s luxury car brand Yangwang debuted the all-electric Altior, which is said to showcase design details that are rooted in Chinese culture. Yangwang said that the Altior brings the depth of Chinese culture into a contemporary vision of ultra-luxury.
Yangwang shared that the Altior takes its name from the Latin word meaning “higher,” which is said to show the car brand’s intention to elevate the luxury experience. BYD’s Yangwang is positioning the Altior as a luxury vehicle, which combines Chinese culture and its goal of creating something “extraordinary.”
“Altior brings together the depth of Chinese culture and our ambition to create something extraordinary for the people who will experience it. Our engineers, designers and craftspeople have worked together to give that heritage a contemporary expression through design, craftsmanship and technology. The result is a vehicle with luxury in every fibre and power in its soul. Altior represents our vision for the future of Chinese luxury,” said BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li.
The Altior took over three years to be developed, and it is said to have taken inspiration from the “ding,” an ancient Chinese ceremonial bronze vessel. It has an assertive and commanding stance, and its front fascia exudes total confidence. The front grille is conceived as a masterpiece of high jewellery, according to Yangwang.
The light pattern upfront comes with an intricate finish, and Yangwang noted that it is integrated with elements that rotate and illuminate sequentially from the outside towards the centre, creating a ceremonial welcome as the owner approaches. Turning to the side, it has a coach-door arrangement, with front doors opening to a maximum of 80 degrees and rear doors to 90 degrees, creating a spacious ingress and egress into the cabin.
To cap it all off, the Yangwang Altior comes with bespoke umbrellas housed within the doors, which take inspiration from the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at China’s Temple of Heaven complex.
Inside, the reference to Chinese culture becomes more apparent. Yangwang explains that the Altior’s interior color, Yellow Hetian jade, a material with deep cultural significance into the air-vent detailing. The upholstery is said to combine Suzhou embroidery with precision perforation. Artisans use the traditional technique of splitting silk threads to create flowing cloud motifs.
One of the features that stands out in the cabin is the massive 21.4-inch screen on the dashboard, which supports entertainment and screen sharing for conference calls. The Yangwang Altior also has a 39-speaker Dynaudio Platinum Evidence sound system, as well as front and rear refrigerators. The rear comes with zero-gravity seats that feature a mechanical massage system with four ball-shaped massage heads.
The Altior is equipped with BYD’s e⁴ Platform with a four-motor electric drivetrain, which Yangwang claims can support the vehicle in situations, including a high-speed tire blowout. The system also features emergency flotation capability, designed to provide additional support if the vehicle accidentally enters water.
The Altior is also fitted with BYD’s independently developed 4 nm Xuanji A3 assisted-driving chip. This supports God’s Eye A assisted-driving system, including parking-space-to-parking-space navigation assistance, motorway and expressway navigation assistance, urban navigation assistance, and parking assistance.
It also has BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery, and Yangwang said that the Altior can deliver an all-electric range of over 999 kilometers (CLTC). The Chinese luxury car brand noted that additional technical details and charging specifications will be announced separately.
Autocar’s Take
The Yangwang Altior is integrated with Chinese culture in its overall design details. But we can’t help but comment that the Altior resembles a Rolls-Royce. At first glance, one might confuse the Altior for something like the Rolls-Royce Ghost, which is a valid observation since it has the same exterior silhouette. Not to mention, the Yangwang Altior also has bespoke umbrellas, housed within the doors, which is a design treatment also seen on Rolls-Royce vehicles.
