There's a new Chinese car brand in town and it's got Daniel Craig as the face of its launch.

As everyone is rightly thinking, ex-007 isn't about to lend his chiselled profile to a cheap Chinese product [even if they pay him a small fortune], which must mean this Chinese car brand is a little bit different to what we've seen so far.

And Denza is certainly unique.

It's the luxury spin-off of BYD - the EV maker that dethroned Tesla as the world's largest electric car maker - that's being pitched against glamorous European car makers. 

But it has a significant ace up its sleeve with technology that promises to revolutionise the EV charging game.

Denza launched in Paris last week at the Opera Palais Garnier no less, revealing its first European and UK model - the flagship Z9GT shooting brake.

It will be a rival to the Porsche Cross Turismo with the temptation of either fully-electric or plug-in hybrid power, state-of-the-art gadgets, sumptuous features, eye-watering performance and battery charges in just five minutes.

But with a price tag of around £100,000, it's far from the cheap Chinese cars Britons have been snapping up at record pace in the last 18 months.

Daily Mail and This is Money motoring reporter Freda Lewis-Stempel is among the first to drive the Z9GT to see if China really can compete at the luxury end of the car market.

What is Denza? BYD goes luxe

Everyone - unless you've been living under a rock for the last couple of years - has now heard of BYD. What people won't have heard of is Denza - the Chinese giant's luxury tech arm.

The premium brand was born in China in 2010, in partnership with Daimler, and was dedicated to 'new energy vehicles' - essentially, EVs and advanced hybrids. 

Its first model went on sale at the end of 2014 in China, and its first store outside of its home country was opened in Hong Kong in 2024.

Daimler exited what was left of its partnership in 2024, after which BYD followed with a 2025 announcement that Denza would arrive in Europe - and that Britain would be one of its first markets.

Denza promises to 'blend cutting-edge technology with sophisticated design to deliver a smarter, safer, and more refined driving experience'.

£100k Z9GT flagship EV charges in 5 minutes

The Z9GT is not only the first Denza model to launch in European and UK markets, but also the flagship car. 

It promises to bring the best of the marque's cutting edge technology and features to buyers with immediate effect.

Denza says, 'blending a sophisticated, flowing shooting-brake body style with state-of-the-art technology, the Z9GT represents a unique proposition for premium buyers searching for a supremely comfortable car underpinned by innovation'.

The Z9GT is available as both an EV and plug-in hybrid Super Hybrid DM (Dual Model) to give buyers ultimate flexibility. 

And they both are compatible with BYD's 'Flash Charging' - a huge pull for buyers and a huge moment for EV charging and tech in general.

Flash Charging is BYD's version of Tesla Supercharging but on steroids.

The charging technology can deliver unparalleled charging speeds of up to 1,500kW. 

And the Denza Z9GT is the first model that can extract such incredible rates, thanks its second-generation BYD Blade Battery battery. 

It means recharging times are no longer than it takes you and I to brim a petrol car. 

Denza goes with the line 'ready in five, full in nine, cold add three' because the Z9GT can charge from 10 to 70 per cent in five minutes, from 10 to 97 per cent in nine minutes, and even in minus 30 degrees Celsius can still recharge from 20 to 97 per cent in 12 minutes.

There's no denying that this - which I saw with my own eyes during the Paris launch - will transform both recharging and range anxiety for EV buyers, and represents the future of EV charging.

Tesla with its 500kW Superchargers which can add 200 miles in 15 minutes is left in the dust.

Expect the expansion of the Flash Charging network to be as rapid as the charging times too: BYD will install 300 1500kW chargers in the UK over the next 12 months.

There will be 600 chargers in total in the UK, offering the fastest charging times, as part of 6,000 new locations globally.

What is the Z9GT like to drive?

The Z9GT is a bit of a driving dilemma.

It comes with pretty mind-blowing performance.

The EV has 1,140bhp. To put that into real terms, that's more grunt than a Ferrari 12Cilindri V12 (819bhp) or a Porsche 911 Turbo S (760bhp).

It can cover 0-to-62mph in 2.7 seconds, which is faster than a Porsche Taycan 4s and a BMW i5. In fact, that's only 0.2 seconds shy of the Aston Martin Valhalla hypercar.

The Z9GT threw me back in the seat when I first floored the throttle, and this hit my adrenaline quota for the day.

But it was also a bit skittish, squirming as it soared through that 0-62mph time; you have to handle it or it will handle you.

It's deeply impressive and exhilarating, but it raises a fear in me for the safety of day-to-day drivers. It's just so much power and pace.

I asked BYD Vice President Stella Li this at the reveal ceremony in Opera Palais Garnier in Paris and she counteracted it that 'on one hand you have speed and fun, and the other hand it's also safe', pointing to its many safety features.

This includes its high-speed tyre blowout system, which will react to the incident in milliseconds and adjust the torque of the unaffected tyres to keep the car in a straight line and them slow it down.

This is great, but I'm less concerned with a tyre blowing out than I am with someone deciding to use launch control on a rural road or take a corner at too high a speed.

There is a conversation to be had around the kind of performance new cars, especially EVs, are offering buyers with deep pockets. Motoring editor Rob Hull complained about the very same thing when he drove Porsche's new Cayenne Turbo Electric last month - which coincidentally produces 1,140bhp.

Many sports car brands and supercar brands give new car buyers track and advanced driver training to make sure they can handle their new, very powerful cars safely. 

It might be time for other brands to join suit.

Power and performance aside I enjoyed threading it around Ile de France's rural roads, finding the steering tight, precise and very much controlled - and it basically turned itself through the slalom course earlier on.

It's extraordinarily comfortable to drive, the position low and sporty and yet visibility was great (and I am not tall so this can be a struggle). 

You can electronically adjust the seats to 800 different positions and the steering wheel to match, and the electronic seat bolstering keeps you secure and supported through twists and turns.

There are many driving modes to choose from, with Sport being the most fun unsurprisingly, but I was happy to find both Eco and Comfort didn't let the side down either.

The digital rearview mirror didn't bother me at all (it's not the first car I've driven with one) and was crisp and clear, but I can't get onboard with the digital side mirrors - just give me a normal wing mirror.

I'd like to spend more time in the Z9GT, taking it on a weeklong road trip to understand what this car is about every day - would I be excited to drive it every day? 

I feel I would, but I'm not quite ready to commit to that yet.

Range and tech - how Z9GT maximises miles

The Z9GT EV's 122.49kWh Blade Battery delivers 372 miles of range which is almost enough to get you from London to Edinburgh on a single charge. 

Of course, once there's a Flash Charger on the route you only need to stop for five minutes to get yourself over the line with range to spare.

The Z9GT PHEV (three electric motors, a 63.82kWh battery and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine) offers 126 miles of EV only range - a seriously impressive amount and leading PHEVs in all classes. It has a 500-mile combined range. It can also Flash Charge.

The other tech that the Z9GT offers is as eyebrow-raising advanced as Flash Charging.

I watched this car park itself in so many ways I have no idea why anyone would ever need to learn to park again.

Through its e³ Parking Assist and rear-wheel steering, it can 'crab walk' (meaning it can move diagonally rather than simply forwards and back) and 360-degree compass turn and manoeuvre itself into the tightest spaces imaginable. Its 4.62-metre turning radius is class-leading.

All of these can be controlled via the smartphone app or via the touchscreen. 

The car identifies the available spaces and will park itself into the space whichever way is needed, tucking in mirrors as required. 

You can even select the speed at which you want it to complete each park - fast, comfort etc. Or whether you want it to park to the left or right of a space depending on which side you need the most space. 

I've seen a lot of self-parking tech; this is by far the most advanced.

As mentioned already, there's a lot of safety tech on offer.

This includes a full suite of advanced assistance features, including adaptive cruise, lane centering and predictive collision avoidance (none of which I found too intrusive) as well as the high-speed tyre blow out and a low-adhesion road stabilisation system.

Z9GT design inside and out - is it as elegant as promised?

It might seem a bit odd to get to the design of the car so late into a review, but because Denza leads with tech, the looks aren't as big a draw as its Flash Charging or incredible performance, in my opinion.

Denza says it draws inspiration from the fluidity of silk, 'with clean flowing lines that balance strength, refinement and aerodynamic efficiency'.

I love a shooting brake body style. And I do think the Z9GT can look luxe and quite sexy but on a good day if that makes sense. 

It doesn't wow all the time, in all lights or at all angles. I don't think the Denza badge helps either - it's a bit old school.

The interior, on the other hand, is really something. It is true luxe.

I could sit in those four plush, leather seats for hours; all seats have massage functions because Denza treats all passengers equally, they are heated and ventilated, the sunroof provides light or sun shading as required, there's not a nasty material anywhere to be found, the insulation and noise cancelling is sublime and that 20-speaker Devialet sound system is a music lover's heaven. Outstanding.

The doors open at the touch of a Rolls-Royce style button, which makes you feel pretty fabulous too.

And the cockpit looks fantastic with a 17.3-inch main touchscreen and two 13.2-inch screens - one for the driver and one for the passenger. 

The passenger can sing karaoke while the driver controls the parking for instance. The driver also gets a whopping 50-inch head up display. 

The wireless Apple CarPlay was flawless to connect and the two 50kW wireless charging pads actually worked - and fast.

In terms of practicality and space, you can fit large adults in with room to spare, and there's a 495-litre boot in the EV and a 478-litre boot in the PHEV. The EV also has a 50-litre frunk. And both models have a cooling or heating refrigerator too.

How much does the Z9GT cost?

BYD often undercuts European rivals, creating pricing wars to drive demand to its 130-plus UK showrooms. 

But this isn't the case with the Z9GT. It turns the Chinese car expectation on its head - it's a very expensive vehicle.

The EV costs €115,000 (£100,221 at the time of writing) and the PHEV costs €101,000 (£88,020).

For comparison, the equivalent estate-like Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo rings in at £89,200 and the Cross Turismo costs £99,200. So, Denza has hurdled even the luxury Stuttgart brand.

There's a long-range version coming soon too, but we don't know pricing for that yet.

But there's a big kick in the teeth to European - and UK customers - on pricing...

In China, where domestic brands are rewarded with substantial price subsidisation by Beijing, the fully electric Z9GT costs around just £40,000.

Britons who do want one must know they'll be paying a significant mark up. 

Cars and Motoring verdict: Has Denza done it right?

In the Z9GT Denza has delivered a very impressive tech and performance package - and industry-changing EV charging too.

I genuinely want to drive the car more, and first impressions have been very positive.

Order books open later this month. Act fast and place a deposit before September and BYD will throw in complimentary flash charging, too. 

But no matter how much cash you throw at Daniel Craig to endorse it, or wax lyrical about its charging speeds, will buyers agree to splash £100,000 on an EV from a Chinese brand they've never heard of before?

That's a big ask and only time will tell...