Yangwang Altior revealed: BYD’s all-electric rival to the Rolls-Royce Phantom

BYD’s luxury division Yangwang has revealed a new all-electric flagship sedan, the Altior. It takes aim at cars like the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The Altior made its global debut in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. BYD says its design draws on the ding, an ancient Chinese ceremonial bronze vessel. The cabin gets four seats. Yangwang will offer the car in Executive and Bespoke editions.

Exterior
The front has an upright fascia and a short overhang. The large grille is studded with individually polished elements. The grille frames Yangwang’s oracle-bone-script emblem. The main lighting setup has 12 elements. They rotate and light up in a planned sequence as you walk toward the car.

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Twin character lines run 4.8 metres along each side. They stretch from the front fender to the taillamps. The doors follow a coach design, so the rear doors are hinged at the back, just like on a Phantom. The front doors open up to 80 degrees. The rear doors open up to 90 degrees. Both hold umbrellas, again like the Phantom.

The Altior rides on 21-inch wheels in three designs. All of them wear 275/45 tyres. At the back, chrome trim connects the slim LED taillights.

Interior and features
The cabin has a dual-tone beige and tan theme. A display panel stretches across most of the dashboard. Air vents have yellow Hetian jade detailing. The upholstery mixes Suzhou silk embroidery with perforated patterns. The cabin also uses full-grain semi-aniline leather, pure-wool floor mats and natural wood trim.

The switches are made of real metal. BYD says engineers tapped them with small hammers during development to test them. The doors are power-operated. The front passenger seat can fold down to give the rear passenger even more space.

The two rear seats are zero-gravity units. They have a mechanical massage function with four ball-shaped massage heads. A one-touch relaxation mode reclines the seats and raises the leg rests. It also closes the sunblinds and adjusts the lighting, sound and fragrance.

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You also get multi-zone automatic climate control and dual sunroofs. A 39-speaker Dynaudio sound system has tweeters that rotate and rise when you start the car. Rear passengers get dual wireless chargers and a powered 21.4-inch overhead screen. It supports screen-sharing for conference calls.

Powertrain and range
The Altior sits on BYD’s e4 platform. It uses four independently controlled electric motors. They manage torque at each wheel. BYD says the system adjusts the driving force over 100 times per second. That helps keep the car stable even in a high-speed tyre blowout.

BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery powers the car. BYD claims a range of over 1,000km on the CLTC cycle. The car also supports Flash Charging. BYD hasn’t shared power figures or charging details yet.