German TÜV approval opens EU doors for HiPhi X SUV

HiPhi, the young Chinese brand of the Human Horizons Group, is one step closer to launching in European markets. Its first model, the SUV called X, already for a while on sale in its homeland, completed TÜV SÜD testing in Germany successfully. The futuristic-looking Z sedan-GT and a compact SUV, called Y,  just announced as the third model are to follow later.

“European road safety standards are among the strictest in the world, and the homologation by TÜV SÜD confirms that HiPhi X meets these standards,” says CTO and cofounder Mark Stanton. He joined Human Horizons in 2018 after a 35-year career at Ford and Jaguar Land Rover.

The HiPhi X, the first flagship model of the company, won the 23rd China Patent Award for Appearance design and was the best-selling vehicle in the Chinese sales charts for models above 500 000 yuan (€67 052) in 2022.

It’s a 5,2 meter long SUV six-seater with wing doors at the rear somewhat like the Tesla X. It features facial recognition to open the car, among others, and should be capable of SAE Level 4 autonomous driving. The 96 kWh battery pack offers ranges of 550 to 630 kilometers depending on the version.

Futuristic looking GT

The HiPhi Z is a futuristic-looking GT-like hatchback of five meters long, available with a 120 kWh battery ensuring up to 705 km range (CLTP). The rear-wheel drive version serves 300 hp and 410 Nm of torque, and the 4WD version 600 hp and 820 Nm.

It not only looks futuristic, but it also happens to come with technology never seen before. Like the world’s first wraparound Star-Ring ISD ‘light curtain’, with 4066 individual LEDs spread over the car’s exterior that can display messages to communicate with the world around it.

The car can automatically detect people, keys, or other vehicles to open its suicide doors electrically when the owner and his passengers are approaching. The large touch screen hovering above the center console ‘comes to live’, when HiPhi artificial intelligence Bot addresses the driver or passenger.

It’s mounted on a 4-degree-of-freedom 8-direction adjustable, high-speed moving robotic arm. The screen can move back and forth, left or right or vertically and horizontally.

HiPhi Y coming end of 2023

The third model is a relatively compact version of the more than the 5,2 meters long X, called Y and equipped with partial wing doors at the rear. The lower half of these doors are ‘normal forward opening’ doors, unlike in the Z, which has ‘suicide doors’.

But this ‘compact’ SUV is 4,94 meters long, 1,96 meters wide, and 1,66 meters high. It will get a 97-kWh battery, ensuring a range of 650 km (CLTP).