BYD Yangwang U8: What do you get when you cross a Land Rover Defender, a Bentley and a boat? The answer is the Yangwang U8, a huge hybrid SUV from the upmarket sub-brand of Chinese electric car giant BYD that can drive on – yes, on, not in – water.

The Land Rover bit is obvious, thanks to the U8’s chunky styling, massive size (at 5.3 metres it’s as long as the Defender 130) and claimed ability to go just about anywhere thanks to four electric motors and a clever hydraulic suspension.

The Bentley factor doesn’t need much explaining either, as the U8’s cabin is a big step up from the plastics and synthetic leathers used in BYD’s lesser cars like the Seal and Atto 3. There’s plenty of Napa leather, plush headrests, massage seats with heating and cooling, and open-grain Sapele wood veneer. There’s even a stowage compartment under the centre armrest that can be cooled to -6 degrees Celsius or heated to 50 degrees Celsius (21 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit).

Less Bentley and more BMW is the amount of technology on board, including three displays spread across the dashboard and two more to entertain rear-seat passengers. The central 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen is curved vertically and flanked by a pair of 23.6-inch displays facing the driver and front passenger. There’s 50W of wireless phone charging and a 22-speaker sound system with Dolby Atmos support.

BYD Yangwang U8 on Water?

Now for the boat part. Ready? BYD says the U8 can wade through water up to 1 meter deep – 100 millimeters more than a Defender – and then, should the wet stuff get deeper, it will float.

Of course, you could argue that any car temporarily becomes a boat when it is unexpectedly submerged in water, but the Chinese company is serious.

Rather than gulping down a few litres, flooding the cabin and going into a frenzy, the U8 calmly shuts off the engine, closes the windows, switches the air conditioning to recirculation, opens the sunroof as an emergency exit and keeps going. There’s no rudder or outboard motor, but BYD says the U8 can sail at 1.8 mph just by turning its wheels.

The boat mode is only intended for use in an emergency, such as a flash flood, and BYD says the U8 is only designed to do this for 30 minutes. It’s not clear what happens on longer trips.

Drivers/skippers are also urged to take the U8 to a garage for inspection after unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally) taking their 3,460 kg luxury electric car/yacht into the water. This may make the U8’s bathing capabilities sound like an unnecessary feature, but in countries prone to extreme rainfall and flooded roads, building a car that can float back to safety isn’t as strange as it sounds.

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BYD Yangwang U8 on Roads & Mountains?

Back on dry land, the U8 promises to be a seriously capable off-roader. Intelligent drive modes send power and torque where it’s needed, and because there’s an electric motor for each wheel, the U8 can perform a tank turn, spinning on the spot by turning its left and right sides in opposite directions. On tarmac it’ll create enough friction to buy the Michelin Man a new holiday home, but off-road it’s a clever way of negotiating tight spots.

We’ve already mentioned that this is a hybrid, but its drivetrain doesn’t work in the conventional sense. There’s a turbocharged 2-litre petrol engine, but it’s not connected to the wheels. Instead, it acts as a range-extending generator, sending power to the U8’s modest 49 kWh battery pack.

BYD says the U8 can travel 112 miles on electricity alone, or 620 miles when the engine is involved. The four electric motors combine to produce a frankly absurd 1,200 horsepower, making the U8 the most powerful SUV in the world. And according to BYD, the nearly 4-tonne car accelerates from 0-62mph in just 3.6 seconds.