With a maximum horsepower of 748 and DMO+Yunnian-P installed, is Fangcheng Baobao 8 determined to rewrite the off-road vehicle landscape?

In recent years, what domestic brands have you seen that are very strong in both products and brands?

Huawei is one of them. At its peak, it ranked first in the world and its domestic market share once reached 44%, forcing some of its competitors to say "a single flower does not make spring";

BYD is now one of them. From January to August 2024, BYD's market share in the domestic new energy market reached 34.6%, which can be said to be far ahead.

This giant enterprise has a strong dominant influence in almost every market segment. But for BYD, there is another market segment that always hides its ambition, and the answer is off-road vehicles.

And now, this enterprising spirit has finally borne fruit, it is the Formula Leopard 8.

On September 12, Fangcheng Bao officially released more information about its flagship model Bao 8. This car is positioned as a medium-to-large SUV, targeting the market of 300,000 to 500,000 yuan, and is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year.

BYD is too strong in the domestic new energy market. In Wang Chuanfu's words, BYD has the "pricing power" in the market below 200,000 yuan. With such a strong position in the industry, it seems unreasonable for BYD not to make off-road vehicles. So, what are the advantages of Leopard 8?

Let’s first look at the design. This car adopts the future starship aesthetic design concept and has an overall square box shape, but it is not the square box like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Instead, it incorporates more design details on the front face, making it highly recognizable and having a relatively high sense of technology.

Leopard 8 is a medium-to-large SUV with a body length of 5195mm and a wheelbase of 2920mm. It provides two seat layouts: 6 seats and 7 seats. This flexible seat layout proves that Leopard 8 is an off-road vehicle that can be driven by yourself to have fun, and can also be used to bring friends to have fun in the wild.

In terms of interior, Leopard 8 also adopts a family-style design, equipped with a large-size central control screen and a co-pilot entertainment screen, while also retaining the crystal buttons that are highly regarded among consumers. As a high-end brand, Leopard needs to form its own family-style design elements.

As a professional off-road vehicle, the Leopard 8 has everything it should have, such as a trailer hook, off-road tires, a roof rack, an external spare tire at the rear, a 2.5-ton towing capacity, etc.

However, if that were all, BYD would not have needed to enter the market aggressively, because other manufacturers can also do this. The reason why Leopard 8, and the entire Formula Leopard brand, has received such high attention is that it has some core technologies and components from BYD, which enables functions that other manufacturers cannot achieve.

The biggest difference between Leopard 8 and ordinary family SUVs is that it can adapt to various harsh and complex road conditions and can appear in various scenes such as the Xinjiang desert, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the snowy forests of the Northeast, and the tropical rainforests of the Southwest, which is difficult for ordinary family SUVs to do.

The key to achieving these functions lies in its chassis and suspension. In this regard, Leopard 8 uses the Super Hybrid DMO system.

First of all, the Leopard 8, supported by DMO technology, uses CTC battery-body integration technology. The blade batteries it contains not only provide power but also serve as body structural parts. The center of gravity of the vehicle is lower, and the body rigidity is greatly improved, and the passability and handling performance are enhanced.

How to enhance your off-road capabilities?

On this issue, ordinary off-road vehicles use "three locks", namely the front axle differential lock, rear axle differential lock and central differential lock. Leopard 8 also has three locks, but it should be noted that its three locks are very different from traditional mechanical locks.

Mechanical locks need to be opened and closed frequently during operation; the three locks of Leopard 8 can continuously lock and exit in real time according to the wheel speed difference, and can also achieve "front wheel forward rotation and rear wheel reverse rotation", shortening the turning radius to 3.4 meters. Formula Leopard officials call it "Leopard-style U-turn". In some narrow sections of the road, this skill can help Leopard 8 get out of trouble quickly.

Of course, the power performance of Leopard 8 itself is also very strong. The DMO system includes a 2.0T off-road-specific longitudinal engine with a maximum power of 200kW, a total power of dual motors of 550kW, and a maximum horsepower of 748. In fact, in recent years, the real-shot videos of Leopard 8 rushing steep slopes, escaping from muddy roads, and making extreme U-turns on narrow roads have been widely circulated on the Internet, which reflects its strong power performance.

Of course, a truly powerful new energy off-road vehicle does not only focus on the power system. Leopard 8 also performs well in terms of intelligence.

Let’s first take a look at the smart cockpit, which can be said to be the most underestimated feature of BYD’s models. At present, the relevant information of Leopard 8’s smart cockpit has not been fully announced, but from the information that has been announced, Leopard 8 has already shown the king’s temperament.

We can give a few examples at random. Leopard 8 provides AI intelligent voice function, which can connect with other target vehicles and send real-time information without opening additional applications.

Secondly, Leopard 8 is expected to provide the world's unique "palm key" function, which allows the vehicle to be unlocked by just raising your hand without a mobile phone or keys.

In addition, Leopard 8 will also be equipped with Huawei Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 3.0 system, which can easily realize end-to-end autonomous driving assistance and navigation assistance on urban roads.

At the same time, the Yunnian-P intelligent body control system equipped on the Leopard 8 is also a good selling point. It can achieve "four-wheel leveling" on rugged roads and has stronger passing performance. The system has been successfully installed on the Yangwang U8 and has been recognized by a large number of users. It will be installed on the Leopard 8 again, widening the gap with other competitors.

The product concept of Leopard 8 is very simple. To sum it up, it uses black technology to open up a breakthrough. It has everything that a conventional off-road vehicle can provide; but what Leopard 8 can provide is beyond the reach of other models.

In terms of core new energy technologies, BYD has the strength to be "a generation ahead".

The off-road vehicle market was previously dominated by joint venture vehicles, especially the high-end off-road vehicle market, where consumers basically only chose a small number of models such as the Wrangler and Mercedes-Benz G-Class. From the appearance of the Leopard 8, it is foreseeable that BYD will use its powerful product strength to prove its strength in off-road and rewrite the existing industry structure.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.