HiPhi’s wildly futuristic X and Z models go on sale, priced from €109k

HiPhi has opened the order books for its X and Z models to German and Norwegian customers. The best-selling EV brand in China has announced the pricing for its all-electric super six-seater SUV, the model X and futuristic grand tourer model, Z.

Retailing from €109,000 (£93,300), the HiPhi X boasts a number of luxury world and industry firsts, such as no-touch automatic wing opening doors. It has four 220kW motors, two at the front and two at the back. Combined with a 97kWh battery, together they achieve 0-62mph in a rapid 3.9 seconds and cover a claimed 285 miles on one charge.

Though the X is available as a four-seater, HiPhi is keen to stress its six-seater capacity, and the fact that the third row can fit fully grown humans.

The Z on the other hand is an all-electric luxury GT, ready to do battle with the Audi e-tron GT, Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S. Achieving 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds, dual electric motors push 494kW of power. Meanwhile, a colossal 120kWh battery is capable of around 340 miles of range, based on official tests.

The Z promises to be something else, not least because it has a robotic infotainment system. Definitely something we’re desperate to play with. Apparently the thing has four degrees of freedom and eight-direction high-speed motion to rotate between portrait and landscape.

The Z comes with four- or five-seater configuration and prices start from €105,000 (£89.870), though weirdly, if you plump for fewer seats, you pay more.

Fortunately, drivers from outside of Germany can consider buying either HiPhi because the brand has also revealed details of a flagship showroom opening at Munich Airport. You might want to hold off though.

Y? Yes, that’s right, because the HiPhi Y – revealed at Shanghai Motor Show 2023 – has been engineered with the European market in mind and that’s set to go on sale at the end of year.

If you can’t wait til then, X and Z orders will start being delivered in Autumn this year, while the brand develops presence in more European markets.

HiPhi CTO and co-founder Mark Stanton said: “The HiPhi X established itself as the best-selling luxury EV in China, and the HiPhi Z has also been extremely well received. Now comes the first opportunity for European customers to find out why the cars have made such a phenomenal impact.

"Their unique combination of luxury and advanced technologies brings buyers in Germany and Norway an entirely new driving experience. And this two-market start forms a perfect launchpad for us to extend our operations across the continent, with the aim of covering main European countries by 2027.”