2024 HiPhi X

2024 HiPhi X - Luxury High Speed Electric Car

Thanks to Borishof

Verdict
Having spent some time in the HiPhi X we’re as excited about the future for this Chinese ‘LuxTech’ brand as we were when we first met the HiPhi team in Shanghai. The X is a fine first shot at the luxury SUV space with enough points of difference to attract buyers. Quality isn’t quite up to scratch and the ride is a bit firm, but if you like your tech and – as more and more EV buyers seem to – want something different to the norm, we can see plenty of appeal in the first HiPhi model.

Of all the brands we saw for the first time at this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, HiPhi was one that impressed us most. Like so many of its compatriot car companies , the speed of its arrival is shocking by western standards. HiPhi’s parent firm, Human Horizons, was founded in 2017 and launched in 2019 with a three-point strategy around smart cars, smart cities and smart transportation.

This, its first car, was first seen in October 2020 with the first customer delivery a little over six months later. Now it’s on sale in Europe with right-hand drive cars just a couple of years away.

But it’s HiPhi’s different approach to luxury cars that impressed us, as it has Chinese buyers – already HiPhi is the best-selling luxury electric vehicle in China with 24 per cent market share. Chinese buyers, it seems, like HiPhi’s invention of the LuxTech segment, blending luxury and technology in a futuristic-looking package.

The HiPhi X, though, is more than just some fancy doors and trick lights. It’s a smart looking thing that hides its SUV bulk well, while we like the depth of thinking behind the car – and it’s engineering – that lays down a real challenge for existing luxury brands.

Behind the engineering is Brit Mark Stanton, former JLR engineering boss, who’s making sure the cars have a luxury feel. And by and large the HiPhi X does – although HiPhi’s other current model, the HiPhi Z, feels slightly more fettled to We..