BYD Yangwang U9 Xtreme 500 km/h production car record, Digi Mart USA News (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates): According to a publisher report from New Atlas, German racing driver Marc Basseng recorded a top speed of 312.65 mph (503.17 km/h) in BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme on the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road in Abu Dhabi. The report says the run confirms the car as the fastest production car ever built.
The publisher states the run has been recognised by both the FIA and Guinness World Records, and that the U9 Xtreme is the first street-legal vehicle to pass the 500 km/h mark. The run was a one-way sprint on a closed highway, which the article notes does not fully satisfy traditional two-way FIA record rules.
The report also cites earlier milestones for the car, including a speed of 308.4 mph at Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg oval and a lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6 minutes, 59.157 seconds, which it describes as the first production electric supercar to dip under seven minutes.
BYD, based in Shenzhen and founded in 1995 as a rechargeable battery maker, launched the U9 under its Yangwang luxury sub-brand in 2024 at roughly US$236,000. The publisher says the Xtreme was developed from a 3,000-hp Track Edition and is capped at 30 customer units worldwide.
According to the article, the Xtreme uses a 1,200-volt platform and an independent permanent-magnet motor at each wheel, for a combined 2,977 horsepower (2,220 kW). It also uses an 80-kWh lithium-iron-phosphate Blade battery, which the report says supports a 30C discharge rate and 500-kW dual-gun fast charging.
The article notes that US tariffs and federal vehicle rules mean American buyers are unlikely to see the car in US showrooms soon. Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond, the first Western journalist to drive the Xtreme, is quoted in the report calling the car a sign of China’s growing role in high-performance vehicles.
