BYD Yangwangs its own record
Some of you might remember reading about the Yangwang U9 Xtreme, a track-focused version of the U9, achieving a top speed of 496.22 km/h (308.33 mph) at Germany’s ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg, in September 2025. It became the world’s fastest production car. Apparently, BYD still wasn’t satisfied and was preparing to beat its own record a few days ago, which, as you may have seen in the videos, ended-up in a violent crash. Fortunately, the test driver Jiang Wen walked away with minor injuries.
Despite being involved in such a violent crash, notice that the passenger cell remains fairly intact, and more importantly, there’s no battery fire/explosion, which I think is remarkable. These practice runs were held at a closed track in China.
The new record-breaking run took place on Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road (E11), in Abu Dhabi, on Nov 1. German racing driver Marc Basseng, the dude who set the earlier record, was behind the wheel this time as well. Basseng managed to achieve 503.17 km/h (312.65 mph), setting two new Guinness World Records: Highest Speed achieved by a Production Car in a single-direction run, and Highest Speed achieved by an Electric Production Car in a single-direction run.
The Yangwang U9 Xtreme literally takes everything to the extreme. It has four electric motors, one at each corner, delivering combined peak figures of 2,220 kW (3,018 metric hp) and 3,360 Nm (2,478 lb-ft). It claims to be the first production model with a 1,200-volt architecture, up from the regular U9’s 800-volt. The car also boasts the DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System, which is claimed to make rapid, independent vertical adjustments to the suspension at each corner of the vehicle, maximizing stability and grip. The DiSus-X is claimed to allow the U9X to corner at high speeds with zero roll or even negative roll – in effect, leaning into the corner, like a motorcycle, at up to 2.43° at 0.3g.
Recommended for you
Leave a Reply
Note: Comments that are unrelated to the post above get automatically filtered into the trash bin.
Leave a Reply
Note: Comments that are unrelated to the post above get automatically filtered into the trash bin.
