BYD punches the table and breaks the top speed record for electric vehicles with the Yangwang U9: 472.41 km/h!

BYD is going all out. It is clear that the brand wants to “make noise,” and not only through its breakneck pace of launching new models. Now, Yangwang, the luxury brand of BYD, which has already surprised with its cars’ ability to do impossible things such as jumping and dancing in the case of the U9, or floating and even “swimming” with the spectacular U8, has just set a new top speed record for an electric vehicle.

More than 3,000 CV to exceed 470 km/h

The new record was achieved by the Yangwang U9 Track Edition, which reached a top speed of 472.41 km/h on August 8 at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany. It is a high-performance version of the U9 supercar sold in China, and it is characterized by the use of four electric motors with a unit output of 555 kW (755 CV), for a total system output of more than 3,000 CV.

With a power-to-weight ratio of just 0.82 kW/CV, the U9 Track Edition uses the brand’s innovative e4 Platform, as well as the DiSus-X intelligent body control system and the 1,200-volt high-voltage architecture, the first of its kind in a mass-produced vehicle.

The only changes on the Track Edition compared to the U9, beyond the higher power, are optimized thermal management for extreme conditions such as those encountered when breaking a record of this kind, a modified carbon-fiber front splitter offered as an option on the U9, and special semi-slick tires for track use developed in collaboration with Giti Tire.

The U9 Track Edition’s record is just 18 km/h short of the absolute top speed record for production vehicles, held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ with its 8.0-liter W16 engine, four turbochargers and 1,500 CV, which exceeded 490 km/h in 2019. A record that, sooner rather than later, will pass to an electric vehicle.