Here’s a Denza N8L, seen in front of a Denza experience store in the great city of Xi’an. It was a dealer demo car, perfectly washed and maintained. The color name is poetic: Snow Jade Firefly, and it is fitted with 20-inch wheels with aero wheel covers.
About Denza
Denza is a mid-high-end brand under BYD, founded in 2016. Initially, Denza was a joint venture with Mercedes-Benz, but since 2024, it has been fully owned by BYD. The Chinese name is 腾势 (Téngshì). The brand is doing reasonably well, selling about 10.00 to 14.000 cars each month.
In April 2026, Denza sold 10.643 cars, good for the 35th spot on the brand-sales rankings and a 0.76% market share. Denza sells six models at the moment of writing. The most popular Denza, by far, is the D9 MPV, which alone takes up about 45% of Denza’s total sales. The Z9 GT is Denza’s second-best-selling model, and the N8L comes in third.
The Denza N8L
The Denza N8L is a full-size SUV with a PHEV powertrain, launched in 2025. Denza doesn’t offer a fully electric version. The N8L features Denza’s “Elegant Momentum” design language, with straight lines and clean surfaces. It comes with narrow headlamps with a closed grille, a relatively short hood, a steeply raked windshield, and a long, stretched-out cabin. The Denze N8L isn’t super pretty, but it has a cool, high-tech modernist vibe.
The car in the photos is the base “Prestige” model, fitted with 255/50 R20 wheels. The car has standard air suspension, set in its lowest setting here. The aero wheel covers match nicely with the overall design of the N8L.
The interior
The Denza N8L is a large machine, so the six-seat cabin is extremely spacious. The windows are large, and the color scheme is light, which makes for an even more roomy feel. The leather seats look very comfortable, and there is a large storage space under the center tunnel.
Up until just a few years ago, Denza still loaded its dashboards with lots of buttons and switches. Well, no more. The Denza N8L has a minimalist dash with only one tiny row of buttons below the 17.3-inch screen. The driver’s display measures 13.2 inches, and the front passenger’s screen is the same size. In the middle are two 50W wireless chargers.
Look up! In the ceiling hides a fold-down screen, also with a 17.3-inch diameter. The second row features two extra-wide captain seats, heated and ventilated, with a message function and armrests on each side. The Devialet audio system has 20 speakers and a 1600W output. That may seem a lot, but actually, it is quite modest. Many competing SUVs have at least 30 speakers, with some going to 40, with up to 2500 and even 3000 watts. Denza better fix that with the next update!
Specifications of the Denza N8L
The Denza N8L has the widest rear lights of any Chinese car.
The “e3” platform is beautifully complex. The PHEV powertrain consists of a:
- a 2.0 turbo ICE with 152 kW and 325 Nm.
- 3 electric motors with 560 kW and 871 Nm.
- an E-CVT gearbox.
- a 65-liter fuel tank.
- a 46.9 kWh BYD Blade LFP battery.
The combined output is 712 kW (955 hp) and 1196 Nm! During normal driving, the ICE functions as a range extender and supplies electricity to the battery. When driving fast, or up-mountain, the ICE sends power directly to the wheels. It is not a full EREV, but neither is it a classic PHEV. It sits somewhere in the middle. I call these cars “PHEREVs”, but that’s not an official term…
The Denza N8L has a 220 km/h top speed, and sprints from 0-100 in 3.9 seconds. The electric range is 230 kilometers and the combined range is 1300 km. A 30-80% charge takes 19 minutes.
That’s not all. The N8L has the super advanced DiSus-A intelligent dual-chamber air-suspension system with rear-wheel steering. It can do tank turns and cran walks. Size: 5200/1999/1820, 3075. It is a little heavy, with a 2980 kg curb weight.
DiPilot 300
Denza has fitted the N8L with BYD’s DiPilot 300 ADAS. The Chinese name for DiPilot is 天神之眼, Tiānshén Zhīyan, which means “God’s Eye”. DiPilot 300 feautures 14 camera’s, 12 ultrasonic radars, 5 millimeter-wave radars, and one lidar with a forward detection distance of 350 kilometers.
This is the camera on the front fender.
Computing power comes from a Nvidia Drive Orin X chip with 254 TOPS. With all this, the Denza N8L is able to drive autononomously over the highway and in the city, and auto-park.
Price of the Denza N8L in China
The Denza N8L Prestige costs 299.800 yuan in China, and that is $44.3 K. That’s a very good deal for a car with so much power, tech, and space. The top-spec Flagship model costs 328.900 yuan ($48.6K). It has the same powertrain, but more goodies, like 21-inch wheels, electric-opening doors, a fancy AR-HUD, and leg-rests for the second row. Nobody can beat China when it comes to automotive value for money!