- BYD EV hypercar beats previous record set by Bugatti Chiron.
- Yangwang U9 Xtreme achieves 496.22km/h on German test track.
- Same model is available for sale in China, but in limited run of 30 units.
Couldn't crack five hundred, huh? Still, BYD's performance/luxury brand Yangwang now holds the record for the world's fastest production car, after the U9 Xtreme reached 496.22km/h at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany.
The Yangwang beat the previous 490.484km/h maximum set by the Bugatti Chiron in 2019. While the Chiron is a combustion car, the U9 Extreme is pure-electric.
Originally known as the U9 Track/Special Edition, and now officially confirmed as the U9 Xtreme in production guise (U9X for short), the new model takes the existing technical architecture of the U9 currently on sale in China and adds a number of technical innovations.
The powertrain features 1200-volt electrics (compared with 800V), a lithium iron phosphate Blade Battery with a discharge rate of 30C, four ultra-high-speed motors operating at up to 30,000rpm for a total of more 2200kW, track-level semi-slick tyres, and a revised DiSus-X suspension system.
“This is an incredibly proud moment for everyone in the research and development division," says BYD executive vice president Stella Li. "Yangwang is a brand that does not recognise the impossible, and only through this commitment to what’s coming next can you end up with a vehicle like the U9X.
"I extend my gratitude to the whole team, and my thanks to the driver, Marc Basseng, for his skill and technical input. It’s terrific that the fastest production car in the world is now electric.”
Basseng is a German racing driver with a long history in sports-car racing and endurance motorsport: “This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme simply has incredible performance. 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 even more on the track.”
"Production" is a relative term for such a specialised car. BYD is producing a "limited series production run" of no more than 30 units.
The company says the name's emphasis on the "X" represents the unknown.
