The Yangwang U9 Xtreme is officially the fastest production car in the world

The Bugatti Chiron is no longer the speed king among production cars, and its crown has passed to its new successor. The Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric supercar from BYD, capable of delivering a maximum output of 2,220 kW, has set a new speed record by reaching 496.22 km/h at the ATP test track located in Papenburg, Germany.

Behind the wheel of the Yangwang U9 Xtreme, German driver Marc Basseng not only beat the previous mark set last August with a pre-production version of this same vehicle, when he reached 472.41 km/h, making the BYD supercar the fastest electric car in the world; but he also surpassed the previous world record held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, a combustion-engined car that had held the title for five years when it reached 490.48 km/h.

The Yangwang U9 Xtreme, manufactured by the luxury brand of the Chinese automotive giant BYD, thus becomes the model to follow in the supercar industry. This vehicle, two metres wide and almost five metres long, equipped with four electric motors, has demonstrated exceptional performance by outpacing the Bugatti by almost 6 km/h and its pre-production version Track Edition of the Chinese supercar by more than 20 km/h.

“Yangwang pushes the limits of what is possible. This record is the result of teamwork and the skill of Marc Basseng. It is a source of pride that the fastest production car in the world is now electric.”

It does not fall short on technical specifications

The U9 Xtreme stands out for its innovative 1,200-volt architecture, which far exceeds the 800 or even 900 volts seen in other high-performance electric models. Likewise, its LFP-cell battery pack, known as the Blade Battery, developed by BYD itself, offers a discharge rate of 30 C, ten times higher than that of conventional electric vehicles. Its four electric motors are, moreover, capable of reaching 30,000 revolutions per minute, and the adaptive DiSus-X suspension has also played an important role in achieving this record.

Despite its exclusivity, with only 30 units produced at a price of 1.68 million yuan, which works out to roughly 200,000 euros at the current exchange rate, the U9 Xtreme is also much cheaper than other supercars, including the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ itself, whose price is around 4 million euros.

Currently available in China, the Yangwang U9 Xtreme not only redefines the speed limit for a production vehicle, but also marks a turning point in the era of electric supercars, proving that electric technology can surpass traditional engines in performance and efficiency.

“The power of the U9 Xtreme is astonishing. The absence of gear changes and the silence of the electric motor allow me to concentrate fully on the track, something impossible with a combustion engine.”