2026 Denza Z9 GT review: powerful and loaded with tech, but there are teething issues

On sale Autumn 2026 Priced from £100,000 (est)

This is Denza’s first car to hit the UK. Positioned as the luxury arm of BYD - think Lexus to Toyota - the company plans to deliver cars in the autumn, with a dealer infrastructure set to be finalised before the summer.

Denza aims to carve out a new niche as a premium Chinese brand. While a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the Z9 GT will also be available, we are behind the wheel of the pure electric version today.

Official UK prices are yet to be confirmed, but expect the PHEV model to sit around the £95,000 mark, with the EV pushing £100,000. For context, they cost about half that in their domestic market.

This electric variant uses a tri-motor setup, featuring a 308bhp motor on the front axle and twin 416bhp motors at the rear, combining for a colossal 1140bhp. Because the rear wheels are powered independently, the Z9 GT boasts a few neat party tricks. These include ‘crab walking’ and turning the rear

wheels in tandem to seamlessly parallel park - simply drive nose-in, and the rear follows.

Its 372-mile official range is average for this class, but Denza hopes its revolutionary charging tech will be the great equaliser. This could be the company’s Tesla Supercharger 'eureka' moment, and frankly, it needs one. Because while the car is objectively good - better than fine, even - it falls just short of great.

The ace up its sleeve is the ability to accept an enormous 1500kW charging speed. This allows the battery to surge from 10% to 97% in just nine minutes (stopping short of 100% to preserve battery life). We watched this happen in a demonstration, and it is genuinely mesmerising.

Furthermore, roof-mounted Lidar future-proofs the car for autonomous driving. Denza is banking on governments eventually changing legislation to permit higher levels of autonomy, at which point unlocking these features will simply require a software update.

What’s it like to drive?

Fast, and very heavy. Pull the paddle behind the steering wheel to activate boost mode, and its blistering 0-62mph time is entirely believable. However, the pace tails off beyond that initial surge. While it feels quick off the line, its accelerative ability feels more subdued at higher speeds.

We suspect this is down to its weight. At 2.9 tonnes, the Z9 GT's mass has a profound effect on its dynamics. Hard acceleration causes the nose to lift significantly… and then there are the brakes. To stop a three-tonne, 1140bhp missile, you need serious stopping power, and they are indeed strong. However, there is simply too much pedal travel before you hit the main braking force. Even after more than an hour behind the wheel, the pedal remained difficult to modulate smoothly.

As for efficiency, Denza claims it will achieve around 3.0mi/kWh, and during our testing, it matched that figure. It’s not a bad return for a car of this size and power, but established European rivals are achieving far better efficiency, albeit with less power.

The suspension offers several different settings, but even the firmest mode is still remarkably soft. It could desperately use a touch more damping for UK tastes. It has a habit of burying itself deeply into undulations and emerging quite slowly on the other side. That said, at motorway speeds on smooth tarmac, it is excellent – you could dispatch serious mileage in total comfort. But at lower speeds on typical British roads, there is a constant, jittery pitter-patter that reveals a chassis working overtime.

What’s the Denza Z9 GT interior like?

There will be only one generous trim specification available in the UK, and interior quality is largely excellent.

The plastics are soft, and the leather is thick and plush. The dashboard is dominated by three fast and responsive screens: a 17.3in central infotainment touchscreen, a 13.2in digital driver's display, and a dedicated 13.2in touchscreen for the front passenger. Curiously, every test car we drove featured a homepage image of Daniel Craig - Denza’s latest brand ambassador - standing next to the vehicle.

While most functions are relegated to the central screen (including heating and ventilation), there is a handful of physical, crystal-style buttons. Unfortunately, these don't feel quite as premium to the touch as you might hope. On the plus side, every occupant benefits from a 20-speaker Devialet audio system.

Passenger space in the rear is top-notch. It is strictly a four-seater, but all four seats feature heating, cooling, and massage functions, while the two rear seats can also recline.

The boot, however, is on the small and narrow side. You get 495 litres of space with the rear seats up, which grows to 1680 litres when they are electrically folded. There is a shallow underfloor compartment, and a 53-litre 'frunk' under the bonnet to store your charging cables

2026 Denza Z9 GT Verdict

What Car? says… 

It is quite hard to pinpoint the exact buyer for the Denza Z9 GT. Taking the plunge requires leaving established premium brands to join a relatively new Chinese marque attempting to rewrite the rulebook. Despite its immense power and ground-breaking charging tech, we are not fully convinced it delivers enough of an overall 'wow' factor to guarantee that conversion.

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Denza Z9 GT

Price £100,000 (est) Engine Three electric motors Power 1140bhp Torque 892lb ft Gearbox 1-spd automatic, AWD

Battery size 122kWh (usable) 0-62mph 2.7sec Top speed 168mph Official range 372 miles

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