(VIDEO) BYD's new Chinese electric supercar U9 can go on 3 wheels, as Citroen models once could

Apr. 11th, 2023, 07:49 PM GMT
Ilie Toma
Fans of Citroen and French cars can still remember the days when the French brand promoted its hydropneumatic suspension system through demonstrations in which its cars could go on 3 wheels, thanks to the balancing that that suspension technology could achieve. Well, now the Chinese from BYD have decided that their new electric supercar can also do such stunts, thanks to a new force compensation technology applied to its suspension.
The new supercar is called the YangWang U9, the YangWang brand belonging to BYD. The U9 model was presented at the beginning of this year, and then it promised an acceleration comparable to the Rimac Nevera, of only 2 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. The Chinese electric supercar announced that it will use 4 motors, one for each wheel, without revealing more technical parameters. Now the Chinese have revealed that the engines will add up to 1,100 hp, the car also promising an autonomy of 435 miles / 700 km.
Now, with the new information and suspension technology revealed, at the beginning of its video presentation the car seemed to sway in the same style that the current GLS and GLE SUVs with Air Body Control suspension can do. Later, however, the U9 proved that it can also go with three wheels, with the right front wheel missing. It's all thanks to a suspension called DiSus-X.
The system is one entirely developed by the Chinese from BYD and contains 3 sub-systems — one that controls the damping stiffness of the wheels, called Disus-C, one that controls the pneumatic circuit of the suspension, called Disus-A, and another that controls the hydraulic circuit, called Disus-P. So, to put it simply, the technology is very similar in principle to that of the old Citroen, which had pneumatic and hydraulic parts in its system, only that the pneumatic ones were not actively adjusted. Here, apparently, the Chinese system went to actively adjust both, as Mercedes does today, also putting electronically actuated solenoids in the shock absorbers, to change their stiffness at will.
The system is developed only for electric cars and makes use of a higher voltage available for it in the car's system. Once, during the test drive with the new GLS , the Mercedes engineers told me that they could not have implemented their bouncy suspension if it was not passed at 48V, since a 12V system is too weak to supply the multitude of sensors and guarantee the instantaneous power required for fast reaction in the system's electromechanical controllers. The Chinese also mention that they have integrated all three subsystems into an integrated system, which takes into account a multitude of direct and indirect sensors, including gyroscopes and position sensors, to act intelligently and thus manage to maintain the balance of the car even with 3 wheels.
Of course, all the technology was not developed just for the sake of going on 3 wheels, but to ensure an incredible course stability, with a roll almost to zero, as the Chinese say, co-opted with exceptional comfort but absorption capacity much higher suspension. And this system will quickly be spread over several models of several brands within the BYD group. Everything being so close in principle to the Citroen suspensions we used to have, once again convinces us that many times the admirable new technologies are actually some brilliant old and forgotten technologies that have been pulled from history and updated with modern capabilities.
Photo. Citroen hydropneumatic suspension construction and components on the DS

See below what this new Chinese supercar can do with its new suspension.
VIDEO GALLERY (1 VIDEOS)
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