Previewed: Denza D9 EV MPV – 2 Variants, RM280K Price?

Making its inaugural Malaysian debut today is the all-new Denza D9—a premium EV MPV from BYD’s luxe sub-brand.

Another day, another new Chinese car brand comes into the foray, and this time it’s BYD’s premium sub-brand Denza, with its first model, the D9. This premium EV MPV is slated to make its official market entry later on Feb 20, featuring two variants for Malaysians to choose from.

Starting with the baseline variant, the D9 Advanced FWD uses a single, front-mounted (FWD) electric motor rated at 308 HP (230 kW) and 360 NM, allowing this large MPV to go from 0-100 KM/H in 9.5 seconds. Meanwhile, the top-spec Premium AWD variant uses a peppier dual-motor AWD setup that delivers up to 369 HP (275 kW) and 470 NM, thus granting it a more rapid century sprint time of only 6.9 seconds.

Regardless of variants, the Malaysian-spec D9 gets the same 103.36-kWh LFP ‘Blade’ battery pack that provides up to 600 KM of NEDC range for the Advanced FWD variant, while the peppier Premium AWD spec gets a slightly discounted NEDC range of 580 KM. Charging-wise, both models support AC 11 kW and DC 166 kW charging methods, with the latter seeing a 30-80% charge to be completed in 30 minutes.

In terms of design, the Denza D9 stood as the most ‘conventional-looking’ compared to some of its other Chinese adversaries. Key design highlights include its large front grille featuring chromed vertical slats, full LED headlights with L-shaped DRLs, full-width LED taillights, 18-inch alloy wheels, and many more.

Dimension-wise, the D9 measures 5,250 MM long, 1,960 MM wide, 1,920 MM tall, and a wheelbase of 3,110 MM, thus making it roughly the same size as its fellow luxury MPV compatriots, such as the Zeekr 009, Xpeng X9, and the Maxus Mifa 9, to name a few.

For the Malaysian market, the D9 is offered exclusively in a seven-seat form spread across three rows. Predictably, buyers can find lots of premium amenities here, including a massive 15.6-inch infotainment screen that supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a smaller 10.25-inch digital metre cluster with a dedicated 12-inch head-up display (HUD), Nappa leather upholstery for all the seats, two captain-style chairs with dedicated touchscreen control for seat adjustments, fully automated sliding doors, two panoramic sunroofs, a built-in refrigerator, and many more.

As we mentioned earlier, the Denza D9 EV MPV is slated to make its official Malaysian debut later on Feb 20. Although no exact prices were given by Denza Malaysia, we believe that the D9 will be priced somewhere around the RM280,000 region, which is on par with some of its aforementioned rivals.

So folks, what do you think of the Denza D9? Would you take this BYD-owned EV MPV over some of its fancier Chinese adversaries? As always, don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below…