BYD’s luxury brand says it's just made the world’s longest-range EV, with a monster 644 miles between charging stops

• Updated Denza Z9 GT manages 644 miles on a single charge
• Hybrid version sees battery capacity practically doubled
• BYD is looking to introduce the Denza to the UK and Europe this year

BYD’s premium Denza brand is already taking China by storm, with its D9 MPV (or minivan) notching up some 300,000 sales in under three years, according to Car News China. And now it's produced an EV with the world's longest range, according to Denza at least.

Taking the best technology from the wider BYD group and wrapping it up in luxurious materials, the Denza sub-brand offers a number of models in China, including a mid-sized SUV in the N7 and the sleek Denza Z9 and Z9 GT — a traditional luxury saloon and an elegant shooting brake/fastback estate car that comes in both pure electric and hybrid guises.

The Z9 GT has just received a refresh in its domestic market, with a new electrified powertrain that is claimed to achieve a CLTC-certified range of 1,036 km (644 miles) on a single charge. CLTC stands for 'China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle' and is the country's equivalent of the WLTP (or Worldwide Harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedure).

Denza says this is now the world’s longest-range EV, with a battery performance improvement of some 64% over its predecessor.

The company says the update brings with it the option of two fresh battery packs, with 102kWh and 122.5kWh offered, providing CLTC ranges of 820-1,036 km (or 509-644 miles) respectively, according to Car News China.

Even the plug-in hybrid version received a battery boost, with a new 63.82kWh pack delivering an all-electric CLTC range of over 400 km (248 miles), nearly double that of the current Denza Z9 GT PHEV’s 201 km (125 miles) and bettering some pure EVs that are currently on sale.

If those enormous range figures weren't enough to whet the appetite, the Z9 GT has also been spied using BYD’s new flash-charging infrastructure in China, which consists of 1,500kW charging outlets that are able to brim batteries in minutes.

Currently, the Denza Z9 is only available in China, but the company is planning to release both the saloon and the fastback in the United Kingdom and Europe this year.

Analysis: Big numbers, bold claims

It is worth noting that China’s Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle, or CLTC for short, is a little more generous when compared to the WLTP tests, which are used across Europe, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) range estimate procedure that is used in the US.

Denza’s estimates of 644 miles will be in absolute best-case scenarios, and we all know that electric vehicle range drops dramatically depending on the climate, weather and the way they are driven.

That said, even with a more realistic estimate, we can still assume the Z9 GT and its recently refreshed saloon counterpart can return between 380-450 miles, depending on the conditions. That's still a hugely impressive number.

By comparison, the Mercedes-Benz EQS has an official WLTP range of 481 miles, but we know this will be a lot less in reality, while the recently unveiled Volvo EX60 says it can manage over 500 miles on the same test cycles.

Regardless of whether or not Denza’s hefty range figures make it a world-beater, the capacity and efficiency alone means customers will be edging towards the sort of real-world range that make EVs highly competitive with internal combustion engine rivals.

To convert a sector of skeptics, automotive manufacturers will have to prove that upcoming EVs require little to no compromise from the buyer… and that includes dispatching 400-odd miles in a single stint.

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