Review: HiPhi Z

A decade ago, the number of Chinese car brands finally seemed to be reducing. Then along came EVs, and every producer decided they needed at least two electric brands, and a whole new camp thought the existing producers didn’t have a clue so there was space to jump into the market. HiPhi falls into the latter group and is a car brand from Shanghai-based technology startup Human Horizons, founded in 2017.

HiPhi’s progress has been ambitious and rapid. The brand’s first car, the HiPhi X, started deliveries in China in June 2021; the car we’re testing here got to the first Chinese customers in February 2023 and is just about to launch in Europe. A third model, a deliberately more mass-market car called the Y, was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show in April.

HiPhi sales in Europe, based from a sales hub in Germany currently under construction in Munich, will begin deliveries supposedly by late summer. By the end of the year, the brand will also be selling in the Middle East. And while there are no plans to be in the US anytime soon, WIRED was specifically told at a brand-hosted media drive in Munich that HiPhi “will go to US at some point.” Rest assured, HiPhi is in a hurry to make its mark.

Which brings us back to the equally rapid Z, the flagship, tech- and gadget-laden EV with which HiPhi wants to make a European splash, build brand recognition, and pave the way for its coming volume vehicle, the Y. Perhaps to secure this cut-through, the Z even has a centrally mounted “robotic” moving screen-cum-digital assistant that “looks at you” when you talk to it.

The Z certainly is quick, being a sporty-looking electric GT in style compared with the X, which HiPhi calls a shooting cross. The X and Z do, however, share the same platform and many of the same attributes. Those sleek lines are beguiling, and the Z is big—it comes in at not only 5,036 mm (16 feet, 6 inches) long but also 2,018 mm (79.4 inches) wide. Factor in the 3,150-mm (124-inch) wheelbase and you start to fully understand why the HiPhi Z not only features four-wheel drive but four-wheel steering as well.

Courtesy of HiPhi

If you’re thinking all that size and tech can’t come cheap, you’d be right. HiPhi very much wants to be a premium brand. Starting at €105,000 ($114,652), there are a choice of two versions of the HiPhi Z: a five seater and a four seater. HiPhi bills the Z and X as “twin halo cars,” with the X being equally high-end, complete with an optional disappearing champagne caddy with room for a bottle and glasses. Indeed, the X starts at a similar price (€109,000/$119,003) and, according to the company, bests the likes of the Porsche Taycan in China for premium EV sales, which HiPhi defines as EVs over €70,000–80,000. WIRED couldn’t find independent figures to corroborate such claims.

How is it possible for a new, unknown brand to achieve this? Firstly there is the guochao phenomenon, which roughly translates as a national wave where the Chinese population have started favoring Chinese products. In the auto industry, this has meant a rise in tech-laden models that appeal to the new generation of buyers. And now, with EVs accounting for more than a quarter of the market in China, this increasingly means going electric. Ultimately, the Chinese auto producers are coming up with EVs that appeal to Chinese consumers far better than any foreign competitors, bar Tesla.

Courtesy of HiPhi

Is the HiPhi Z a winner? Despite being significantly bigger and heavier than a Porsche Taycan GTS, it is only 0.1 seconds slower to 62 mph (100 km/h) with a time of 3.8 seconds. Factor in the four-wheel steering and you might well be winning on the track.

But will those looks win anyone over? The world “polarizing” springs to mind. HiPhi seems set on being the Citroen of the EV world—perhaps it’s no coincidence that the vice president of design is French. It is trying to be unlike almost anything on the road. That said, it has more than a whiff of BMW's i8 about it, especially with the sweeping lines at the rear. The front is very male, very aggressive, with cutouts and creases to accentuate the look. Despite this, the hood manages to hide a frunk underneath, about big enough to fit the charging cables.

Originally the design called for cameras instead of side mirrors, and the inside of the doors still feature the space which would have housed the screens. Current Chinese regulations don’t allow for such cameras, but it is possible they may make an appearance on export versions (but not in the EU version we drove). This would also help reduce the drag coefficient of 0.27, which isn’t so great for a low-slung EV. Windscreen-less at the rear (just like the new Polestar 4), the HiPhi Z is dependent on a camera for the rear-view mirror.

To open the doors you press a button on the B-pillar; the rear pair are coach doors. To close the driver’s door you press the brake pedal. Doors can also be closed via the infotainment screen or by voice control. In the back there are roof-mounted buttons to close the doors. It is sometimes a worry when car companies get so carried away with different methods to open and close doors they forget the easiest and most reliable way is often to just let the human do it.

Inside, the HiPhi Z is different from the HiPhi X. Instead of door-to-door screens up front, the Z has just one. Centrally mounted, as in the Tesla Model 3/Y, it has a trick at its core turning it into the HiPhi Bot.

Courtesy of HiPhi

Rather than being directly attached to the dashboard, the screen is mounted on powered metal rods, allowing it to rotate, swivel, and even dance to the music of some videos. This may sound like a useless party trick, but it means that at least the driver or passenger can optimize the positioning of the screen. It also means the Bot can turn to look at you when you speak to it. If that minimizes time spent with eyes off the road, then that's all well and good. But let's be clear, this is a gimmick. It is in no way necessary or clearly better than an embedded screen.

HiPhi has put some thought into the user interface. At the bottom of the screen is the Mini Bar with controls for the temperature, airflow, and media volume. There’s also an Easy Bar with controls for media selection, seat heating, and massage functions, along with another bar showing the total days of ownership and mileage for the car. Info such as speed is displayed across the top left of the screen, and along the left edge are the menu items.

Courtesy of HiPhi

HiPhi says 85 percent of user needs can be done on the screen in one or two steps. But here's the thing: Amazingly, no auto brand is great at in-car UI yet. Instead of physical buttons, you have to go through four or five screen taps to find the controls for the wing mirrors. And, worse, there are two or three different settings menus rather than a unified one. Most controls may be on that home screen, but it's not exactly fun when you have to delve into the submenus.

Equipment and materials are generally good. You’ve got things like heating, ventilation, and massage on the front seats, along with a 23-speaker Meridian sound system. However, while you’ve got plenty of leather and microfiber, the corners of the second layer of the dashboard are just hard plastic.

With the sharply sloping back roofline, headspace in the back row of the Z is not particularly good. We had a few fingers’ spare headroom with the four-seater, but sitting in the middle seat of the five-seater you had to stoop your head forward.

Courtesy of HiPhi

Billed as an electric GT, the HiPhi Z doesn’t fall short. While by the standards of the fastest EVs the acceleration figure isn’t actually that fast, the real story is about how it drives. In such a big, lumbering car like the X such acceleration is borderline terrifying, but with the Z it feels far more managed and controlled. With a combined output of 494 kW and 820 Nm of torque, never once did the car feel like it was struggling to deal with the power from the twin motors.

Equally, the steering has a feel and precision that is unlike most EVs. Yes there’s actually some feel to it for a start. And, thanks to the four-wheel steering, this really doesn’t seem like a car with a wheelbase of 3,150 mm. The turning radius is just 5.7 meters, and while our route didn’t have anything particularly challenging, lane changes were effortless. Air suspension also means the ride is commendable.

One surprise for an EV was the paddle shifts used as a method for selecting both the drive mode and braking regeneration. You might love this or find it annoyingly confusing. Pull left or right to go through the options, but when you pull both simultaneously you switch from drive mode to the braking regen menu or vice versa. It is easy to muck this up when you're not used to it.

Courtesy of HiPhi

In Eco and Comfort at below about 70 mph, the Z only uses the rear motor, whereas in Sport the front motor is continuously engaged. Braking regeneration ranges from Low to High. The lowest is near imperceptible whereas, oddly, High is still not very strong and brings the car to a coast rather than a halt.

The unsightly taxi-like lozenge on the roof at the top of the windscreen is a giveaway that the Z has Lidar built in, and it is supposedly Level 3 autonomous ready (so hands-free freeway driving) when that tech can be switched on. Currently the Lidar is used to help the car build up a picture of what is around the car, which is then displayed on the Bot. Aside from the this, the usual driver assistance systems are all present.

Range on the standard 22-inch low-rolling-resistance wheels is, according to HiPhi, 438 miles. This based on the very generous Chinese CLTC measure from a massive 120-kWh battery pack supplied by Chinese battery giant CATL. Real-world ranges are more likely to be in the region of 350 miles. We got 24.5 kWh/100 km on a drive on freeways and country roads that was just shy of 70 km, which converts to 2.5 mi/kWh.

But the power economy is not the issue here—the charging is. Fast charging on the Z from 0 to 80 percent takes 55 minutes. Disappointingly for such an expensive tech-laden car, there is no 800-volt architecture for super-fast charging. Main rival Porsche's Taycan has 800-volt; in fact so does Hyundai and Kia. This feels like a crucial misstep for a brand wanting to be seen as premium and luxury.

Yes, you have to be impressed with how quickly HiPhi has got up and running. Yes, they also have impressive people on board such as CEO Ding Lei, former CEO of Shanghai General Motors, and CTO Mark Stanton, with 35 years at Ford and Land Rover under his belt. However, despite the impressive performance and handling of the Z, the main thing that's hard to ignore is that its starting price is more expensive than that of the Porsche Taycan.

Now, this doesn't tell the whole picture, of course. On these entry-level models, the HiPhi will have a bigger battery, and to get the same performance specs and drive options the Porsche version will quickly go north of that HiPhi price. However, for a new brand like HiPhi, it's going to be a tough sell to lure punters outside of China away from Porsche.

But maybe that doesn't matter? With the Z and X you get the distinct impression this is just the warm-up act. The real work begins when the more affordable, but still quality, HiPhi Y lands. Having come so far so quickly, it's hard to not see HiPhi again punching well above its weight.