• Buick just revealed a luxury electric MPV you won’t see in America.
  • It packs 900V charging, 640-kW fast charge, and lounge seats.
  • China gets what might be Buick’s most advanced minivan yet.

America, you won’t believe the $70,000 Buick you’re missing out on. While the brand’s U.S. lineup has been trimmed down to a handful of boring crossovers, China is getting a futuristic, all-electric luxury minivan with ultra-fast charging, reclining lounge seats, and enough screens to make a business jet jealous.

This is the new Encasa EV, Buick’s latest flagship MPV for the Chinese market, and almost certainly the most advanced vehicle wearing the tri-shield badge today.

The Encasa already existed as a plug-in hybrid, which we showed you back in December, so this new EV version just gives Chinese customers more choice. It rides on GM’s latest dedicated EV architecture and uses a 96-kWh battery paired with a 900-volt electrical system. For comparison, the Hummer EV has two 400-volt batteries that can switch to 800 volts during charging.

Buick claims the setup can deliver up to 373 miles (601 km) of range on the CLTC cycle and support peak charging speeds of 640 kW, allowing the battery to jump from 10 to 80 percent in about 11.5 minutes under ideal conditions. To put that into perspective, that’s faster charging than almost anything sold in North America, let alone a minivan.

More: Buick’s New Electra E7 Looks More Toyota Than Buick

Performance isn’t exactly slow either. Chinese-market specs list a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system producing 646 hp (482 kW) and 406 lb-ft (550 Nm) of peak torque , good for a 0–62 mph (0-100 km/h) time of about 5.1 seconds. The exterior follows Buick’s latest “Land Jet” design language, with a slippery 0.258 Cd drag coefficient, matte gray paint option, and a long, low MPV shape that prioritizes interior space over SUV styling trends.

A Living Room On Wheels

A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out
A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out

Inside, the Encasa EV goes all-in on the luxury MPV formula that Chinese buyers love. The three-row cabin uses a 2+2+3 layout with reclining second-row seats, multiple display screens, and a massive augmented-reality head-up display reportedly measuring up to 50 inches.

Passengers also get features rarely seen in U.S. Buicks, including air suspension with ride-height adjustment, a built-in refrigerator, rear entertainment screens, and an advanced driver-assistance system based on Momenta’s reinforcement-learning software.

The Encasa EV starts at 489,900 yuan (about $68,000), putting it right in the middle of China’s rapidly growing premium electric MPV segment. Buick once built its reputation on big, comfortable family haulers, but today the brand sells no minivan at all in the U.S., let alone a 900-volt electric one. In China, though, the formula clearly still works.

A 646 HP Buick Minivan Arrives Overseas, And The U.S. Gets Left Out