The Bao 5 from Denza has a 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder and two electric motors, giving it a combined 536 hp

by Brad Anderson

BYD keeps pushing its premium Denza brand deeper into Europe, and the newest arrival has just landed in the UK. The Denza Bao 5 is a rugged Land Rover Defender rival that already sells in China under the Fangchengbao name, and it shows up with a spec sheet built to peel buyers away from the usual luxury off-roaders. But it isn’t cheap.

UK pricing opens at £69,500 ($93,200) for the Elegance and £78,880 ($105,800) for the Ultimate. That puts it right on top of the Land Rover Defender 110 plug-in hybrid, which starts at £72,000 ($96,600), and that’s the gamble. Chinese brands usually crack a new market by undercutting everyone, but Denza is asking Defender money for a badge most UK buyers have never heard of. Denza also lines it up against the Toyota Land Cruiser, Ineos Grenadier, BMW X5, and Mercedes GLE.

Read: BYD’s New Denza Z More Than Doubles A 911 Turbo S’s Power For Less Than GTS Money

The Bao 5 rides on a body-on-frame platform shared with the BYD Shark 6 and the larger Denza 8, known in China as the Fangchengbao Bao 8. Both UK trims, Elegance and Ultimate, use the same underpinnings.

Both versions run an identical plug-in hybrid setup, with the engine sitting longitudinally, which Denza claims is a first for any plug-in hybrid. That engine is a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 148 hp and 177 lb-ft (240 Nm). Numbers like those would leave a vehicle this heavy gasping, so the Bao 5 leans on two electric motors. The front axle handles 268 hp and 266 lb-ft (360 Nm), while the rear motor puts down 383 hp and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm). Together the system produces 536 hp and 561 lb-ft (760 Nm).

In a straight line, the slightly lighter Elegance version can hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.8 seconds while the Ultimate reaches the same mark in 5.0 seconds. Both use the same 31.8 kWh battery pack, giving the SUV 56 miles (90 km) of all-electric driving range. Add in the combustion engine, and the combined driving range comes to 537 miles (864 km).

The top speeds of both models are capped at 112 mph (180 km/h), so they’re obviously not as well suited to blasting down the Autobahn as some rivals.

Charging tops out at 100 kW on DC, enough for a 30 to 80 percent fill in 16 minutes. AC charging runs at 11 kW and takes the battery from 15 to 100 percent in a little over three hours.

Proper Off-Road Kit

The Bao 5 promises some serious off-roading credentials. It includes electronic locking differentials at the front and rear, operating alongside a locking diff in the center. There’s also a double-wishbone suspension at the front and rear, and the firm’s complex DiSus-P body-control system that continuously adjusts damping and offers up to 5.5 inches (140 mm) of ride-height adjustment.

Denza says the central torque distribution reacts as much as 30 times faster than a mechanical arrangement. Raise the suspension with DiSus-P and ground clearance climbs to 310 mm, nearly 20 mm more than a Land Rover Defender, while approach and departure angles sharpen to 39 and 34 degrees.

The interior sports a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a head-up display, a 15.6-inch infotainment screen, and an available screen for the front passenger. The Ultimate versions also include heated and ventilated front and rear seats, leather upholstery, and a cooled and heated storage compartment.

That storage compartment sits on the center console next to an electrically adjustable cup holder with powered lift, and the 4.5-liter cooled and heated box holds eight soda bottles. It chills to between -6°C and 15°C (21 to 59°F) or warms contents to 35 to 50°C (95 to 122°F), keeps a power-off memory, detects objects, and can be triggered remotely through the Denza app. That same app shares the Bao 5’s digital key for locking, unlocking, and starting, while the NFC key works without a phone signal and even when the handset is nearly dead.

Promising new EVs and plug-in hybrids from China are already proving popular in the UK, and we see no reason why the Bao 5 will be any different. If priced correctly, the combination of rugged looks, latest tech, and excellent performance should be enough to pull quite a few prospective buyers away from Toyota, Land Rover, Lexus, and Mercedes-Benz dealerships.

BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li said the company expects the Bao 5 to win over European buyers who want genuine off-road ability without surrendering premium comfort or technology.