- Top speed of 496.22kmph
- Production limited to 30 units
The world’s fastest production car is the Bugatti Chiron SS300+...well, not anymore! YangWang, Chinese carmaker BYD’s luxury arm, rolled out an all-electric production-spec hypercar that managed to dethrone the 8.0-litre W16 monster. Here’s what you need to know.
The BYD YangWang U9 Xtreme left the likes of the Bugatti Chiron SS300+ (490.5kmph) and the SSC Tuatara (475kmph) trailing, attaining a top speed of 496.22kmph on Germany’s Papenburg oval track. Both the Bugatti and the YangWang were driven by the German racer, Marc Basseng, who managed to break the Bugatti’s 2019 record. The electric hypercar is also the first to clock a 6:59.157 laptime on the Nürburgring.
What Powers the BYD YangWang U9?
The bonkers electric hypercar is nothing short of an engineering marvel. This is the first car to be underpinned by a 1200-volt ultra-high voltage platform. While its predecessor, the U9 Track Edition, was based on an 800-volt architecture, the U9 Xtreme takes things a notch higher.
Power generated by the YangWang U9 Xtreme is a jaw-dropping figure. It packs a quad-motor setup, with each motor rated to churn out 555kW. This combines to generate a total power output of over 2,237kW. To top it off, BYD pioneers in battery tech, and this means that the high-density LFP battery can discharge quickly, combined with a thermal system designed to handle a 133 per cent higher power output.
Notably, only 30 units of the YangWang U9 will be rolled off production lines.
