At this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, are electric vehicles taking the lead while gasoline-powered vehicles are just spectators?

A few days ago, the Goodwood Festival of Speed took place. One of our colleagues actually traveled all the way to the UK to attend the event in person, which left our colleague Neck Guy utterly green with envy.

But what exactly did he go there to see? The answer might surprise you: it was BYD.

 Well, he traveled overseas just to catch a glimpse of a Chinese domestic staple...

The main reason was that BYD was impossible to miss. On this exclusive, high-value estate, the brand booked the largest exhibition space at the entire event, spanning 2,016 square meters. Even attendees who had never heard of the brand would definitely stop to take a look.

With such a grand, high-profile setup, BYD must have been gearing up to make a major move, right?

Exactly — the whole event was centered around launching the Denza Z, the world's first high-performance electric intelligent supercar.

Honestly, I've been really looking forward to this model. We talked about it back when it was filed with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. This two-door coupe doesn't just have stunning looks; its performance specs are absolutely ferocious: three motors delivering nearly 1,600 horsepower (1,180kW in real output), with options for both a hardtop and a convertible. It checks every single box for me.

But the moment the pre-sale prices were announced, Neck Guy's earlier excitement completely deflated. The domestic starting price is 680,000 RMB, and the convertible version starts at 780,000 RMB. Even if I gritted my teeth so hard my back molars shattered, I'd probably still need to take out a second loan to afford it. Guess I'll just have to wait for the next life...

Even more shocked were international attendees, since the car's overseas starting price is £142,900 (roughly 1.3 million RMB) — double its domestic price, directly positioning it to compete with the Porsche 911 Carrera GTS in Europe. It'll be interesting to see how European consumers react to that.

 As the old saying goes, in the UK, you really need deep pockets to even consider a BYD these days...

Beyond the Denza Z, BYD also brought its full Yangwang lineup, including the U7, U9X, and U8L.

The most standout of these is the Yangwang U7. While all other vehicles were shipped to the UK by sea, this one was driven all the way from Shenzhen, crossing 10 countries and covering a full 15,000 kilometers. It came both to compete in the event and to put its long-term durability to the test.

The whole point was to make a huge splash for international audiences at this iconic festival for automotive enthusiasts.

According to BYD, this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed is the most deeply involved event the brand has ever participated in, and future participation will be even more ambitious. They might even bring over the floating pool for the Yangwang U8, which would surely cost an astronomical sum in venue fees.

Don't mistake BYD for being naive, throwing money around blindly in the European market. This level of investment is actually very strategic.

For one thing, European consumers have long been underserved by underwhelming vehicles in their local market. At BYD dealerships, simply demonstrating four basic features — NFC key access, voice activation, in-car karaoke, and vehicle-to-load discharge to make coffee — boosts the closing rate to 50%. Showcasing BYD's top-tier technologies at this major event will definitely drive more real conversions.

On the other hand, BYD's success relies heavily on local partnerships. Renting a booth at Goodwood is essentially a golden ticket to enter the local automotive circle.

That's why the Goodwood Festival of Speed has become a key springboard for Chinese automakers expanding overseas. More and more domestic brands have been drawn to the event, from NIO's EP9 and MG's Cyberster in past years, to BYD as the main attraction this year.

 Of course, beyond the exhibition stands, the most iconic part of Goodwood is the hill climb race.

This track, lined with hay bales, is just 1.86 kilometers long with a mere 9 corners. Vintage cars, production vehicles, and purpose-built race cars all take on the challenge, competing to see who can reach the top of the hill the fastest to claim the title.

But no one is actually focused on who wins — all eyes are on the cars themselves. The most talked-about vehicle this year is the Red Bull RB17.

This model is the final masterpiece of legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey, engineered entirely to F1 performance standards.

Not only does it weigh just 900 kilograms, it is also equipped with a Cosworth-custom 4.5L V10 engine that revs up to 15,000 rpm. Combined with an electric motor, it delivers over 1,200 horsepower. Virtual testing shows its lap time is a full second faster than a modern F1 car, which is absolutely mind-blowing.

The catch is, even if you pay £5 million (roughly 45 million RMB) to buy it, you can't drive it on public roads. It's only allowed on racetracks, so Goodwood is one of the few places the public can get a look at it.

Next up is the McLaren 788HS.

The "788" in its name refers to its horsepower output, while "HS" stands for High Sport — a badge far more exclusive than McLaren's previous S and LT trims, signifying a bespoke, hand-tuned build from the brand. In McLaren's history, this badge has only been used three times.

 As the final model in McLaren's second-generation Super Series, it marks the end of an era: we will likely never see a pure internal combustion V8 from the brand again...

Then there's Toyota's GR GT3, a 4.0L twin-turbo Japanese V8. Who could say no to that?

While Toyota hasn't released full specs yet, its goal is crystal clear: to directly take on established GT3 rivals like the AMG GT and 911 GT3. This is clearly a long-held passion of Akio Toyoda.

Of course, all these gasoline and hybrid supercars we've mentioned are mostly here just to make a brief appearance. The real stars of the hill climb, the ones that have made their mark, are the all-electric monsters.

Take the hill climb champion, the Ford Super Mustang Mach-E. This vehicle just took first place at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and now it's at Goodwood, seemingly unbeatable.

With three motors putting out 1,421 horsepower, it's already incredibly powerful, but the key to winning the race was weight reduction.

For this event, the Super Mustang Mach-E further optimized its powertrain, cutting the battery capacity down to 50kWh and removing one motor, shedding a total of 118 kilograms. This made it far more agile through corners, and its final time improved drastically from last year's 43.22 seconds to 41.97 seconds.

The runner-up was the Generation 4 prototype for Formula E, finishing just 0.49 seconds behind the champion.

In the past, many fans complained that Formula E cars were too slow, since the front axle motor was restricted to regenerative braking only, with power delivered exclusively through the rear wheels. But this new generation has switched to all-wheel drive, with peak power hitting 600kW and 0-100km/h acceleration in just 1.8 seconds.

 Even though this model hasn't officially entered competition yet, securing second place at Goodwood in a casual test drive clearly shows its ferocious performance. Next year's Formula E season is definitely something to look forward to.

At the end of the day, it's obvious: whether at the Nürburgring, Pikes Peak, or Goodwood, gasoline and hybrid vehicles are gradually being outpaced by all-electric cars. This trend is simply inevitable.

But at the same time, the value of gasoline-powered cars has not been replaced.

Even if electric vehicles take over as the primary mode of transport, many people still crave the raw roar of a V8 engine. That feeling has nothing to do with track performance — people see these combustion supercars as pieces of art, and love them from the bottom of their hearts.

That's the magic of Goodwood. No matter if you're into electric cars, gasoline cars, brand-new models, or vintage classics, everyone can find something to enjoy.

Image and information sources :

Alpine to Zenvo: the 28 new cars you must see at Festival of Speed

This article is from the WeChat public account "Bad Review X.PIN", written by Neck Guy, and published with authorization by 36Kr.