New Force in the Automotive Industry: BeyonCa

Author: Zhang Ruichen

Editor: Wu Xianzhi

There’s a new player in the field of car manufacturing. It’s called BeyonCa, which when translated to Chinese is known as Bingli Intelligent Technology. It brings to mind the luxury car brand Bentley, but its name sounds like a knockoff.

On October 30th, 2022, the electric car brand BeyonCa revealed its first concept car, the Gran Turismo Opus 1, or GT Opus 1 for short. The company has plans to announce its first production car in the first quarter of 2023, along with the brand’s Chinese name. The first mass-produced model is expected to hit the market in 2024, with a predicted price tag of around one million RMB.

Bingli Intelligent Technology is a Chinese luxury electric car brand founded by former Volkswagen Group Executive Vice President Su Weiming. The brand is backed by joint investments from companies such as Dongfeng, Renault, and Wuhan Changjiang Capital, with the new cars being manufactured by Dongfeng Motor Corporation.

BeyonCa’s concept of intelligence goes beyond just integrating chips, sensors, cameras, and software. It aims to combine these tech configurations to truly improve the user and their family’s living experiences.

BeyonCa takes a unique approach to automotive innovation, with an insight into the deep scenes inside and outside the car. By building travel solutions and a health ecosystem, the brand offers a unique experience that creates a better life for its users. Su Weiming said: “Scenes are not just a simple addition of functions and configurations. It should also be the perfect combination of art and technology. The development of technology must serve the core needs of people. Therefore, we focus on deep scenes and health.”

So far, BeyonCa has developed an intelligent cockpit with a real-time health monitoring system. It provides a complete health solution that achieves full perception, response, and touch. In addition, the company has also appointed international cardiac disease expert Guo Xin as its Chief Health Officer, leading a “cloud doctor” team to develop health scenes and services both in and outside the car.Actually, there are many new brands that have been established by former executives from traditional carmakers like Su Weiming, including Gaohe, WM Motor, AIWAYS, and BYTON. However, they have failed to perform as well as they had anticipated, with BYTON even burning through 8.4 billion yuan and declaring bankruptcy.

In the new energy era, many new forces have emerged in China, competing against joint ventures between traditional carmakers and local partners, such as NIO, Xpeng, Ideal, and JAC. However, BinLi stands out for its ambition to create a domestically produced new energy vehicle with a million-yuan price tag.

Based on the concept car information released by the official website, the GT Opus 1 seems to target Porsche’s Taycan. While we cannot say that BinLi is a direct copy of Bentley, there is no denying that they are related. Perhaps BinLi’s ultimate goal is to create the “Bentley” of Chinese carmakers.

In terms of appearance, the GT Opus 1 features a sports car design with four doors, sharp lines, a V-shaped daytime running lights, and a three-dimensional logo on the sharp front face, reminiscent of Bugatti’s Vision GT. The car’s length is about 5.2 meters, with a wheelbase of approximately three meters. The top of the car should have a raised area for the laser radar and other driving assistance hardware. The large multi-spoke wheels and red calipers are paired with large brake discs. The back of the car has a sleek design, with folding LED taillights, and silver chrome front and rear bumpers and side skirts.

In terms of interior, the panoramic display of the interior was not officially announced at the press conference, only some details were disclosed.

The new car’s interior has added diamond-shaped grille-shaped ambient lights in many places, including the steering wheel, audio sound unit, and shifting button.

Regarding the power system, specific details are also not publicized. Currently, it is known that the vehicle will be equipped with a four-wheel drive system, a 130kWh CTP/CTC battery pack, and an 800V voltage platform, and will support fast charging with a power of up to 300kW.

Su Weiming expressed the hope of creating the first luxury car brand from China to the world, which is the vision of the entire team. He said that with the rapid development in recent years, China has had the most mature electric vehicle industry chain in the world and has gathered top talents in intelligent driving. We also have a team with the best experience to create a domestic luxury car experience.

The previous person who aspired to make high-end intelligent electric cars was Jia Yueting, who has not yet delivered a single car. His company is called Faraday Future, which is also reminiscent of the luxury brand Ferrari. So will BeyonCa follow in their footsteps, or will they take a different path?

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.