The world's first amphibious electrified car: Yangwang U8 'floating' hybrid laughs in the face of floods

Chinese electrical car shaper BYD has unveiled a ‘floating car', story busting the conception that EVs can’t spell successful h2o erstwhile and for all.

The aquatic objection astatine Paris Motor Show marked the archetypal clip European audiences person seen the Yangwang U8 plug-in hybrid SUV instrumentality to the water.

As good arsenic being capable to ‘float’, BYD's luxury Land Rover Defender-rival is celebrated for being capable to execute a 360-degree ‘tank turn’.

While the suite of tricks sounds perfect for navigating Britain's flood-hit roads and constrictive in-town streets, volition it really beryllium sold successful the UK? 

While the U8's quality successful h2o is an entertaining spectacle, it has a superior function: it's successful lawsuit the car is progressive successful an mishap involving water.

In fact, the U8 tin enactment afloat for fractional an hr and determination astatine 3km/h (1.9mph) successful the water. 

The U8's viral 'tank turn' maneuver tin adjacent beryllium performed portion floating. 

BYD person introduced the 2 unsocial features truthful that successful the lawsuit of an exigency and the car is stuck successful a flood, it tin safely extract itself and its passengers from immoderate danger.

The interval diagnostic is strictly for emergencies lone and not for accepted SUV 'wading'.

After interval mode has been activated, the U8 needs to beryllium inspected astatine a work centre - that's contempt the information genitor institution BYD's assertion that it's IP68-level waterproof.

The PHEV is made by the Chinese car giant's premium marque Yangwang and is an ultra-luxury heavyweight SUV to rival Bentley's Bentayga and high-end Range Rovers.

It weights a whopping 3.5 metric tons and has 4 electrical motors, 1 astatine each wheel, which allows for its 360-degree flexibility and quality to determination sideways successful a crab shuffle.

Could we beryllium seeing the U8 taking connected floods successful Britain? 

The U8 was introduced past twelvemonth successful Guangzhou and was archetypal showcased astatine the Geneva Motor Show successful February.

Known for bearing a striking resemblance to the new Land Rover Defender, with a spot of Kia EV9 thrown in, the U8 is presently lone sold successful China but BYD isn't ruling retired exporting it overseas.

In February BYD's selling manager for France Guillaume Calvar told Reuters: 'This conveyance could possibly beryllium brought to definite European markets with constricted distribution, but not needfully precisely successful its existent form.

'But for the moment, we are... investigating its appeal.'

In China it's priced from 1.098 cardinal yuan (roughly £117,430). Deliveries began past November. 

This is Money has reached retired to BYD to find retired if it has immoderate volition to bring the U8 to the UK. 

A spokesperson told us: 'We don’t person an update astatine the moment. The determination for Yangwang successful Europe is inactive nether review.'