Yangwang, the luxury sub-brand of BYD, has set a new global production car top speed record of 496.22km/h at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg track in Germany.
The feat was achieved with the Chinese marque’s U9 Xtreme hypercar on September 14, eclipsing its previous electric vehicle benchmark and the 490.484km/h maximum set by the petrol-powered Bugatti Chiron Super Sport to become the world’s fastest car. The achievement also puts it ahead of rivals such as the Aspark Owl and Rimac Nevera R.
Originally developed as the U9 Track/Special Edition and now officially confirmed in production guise as the Yangwang U9 Xtreme (U9X), the car builds on the technical architecture of the standard U9 with a number of key upgrades.
These include a 1,200V powertrain (compared with 800V on the regular U9), a lithium iron phosphate Blade Battery with a 30C discharge rate, four ultra-high speed motors capable of up to 30,000rpm and producing more than 2,206kW, track-focused semi-slick tyres, and a revised DiSus-X suspension system tuned for the stresses of circuit driving.
“This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme has incredible performance,” said driver Marc Basseng, a German track specialist with a long history in sports car racing and endurance motorsport. “Technically, something like this is not possible with a combustion engine. Thanks to the electric motor, the car is quiet, there are no load changes and that allows me to focus more on the track.”
The U9 Xtreme will be offered in a limited production run of 30 units. Pricing has not been announced.
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