313 MPH Yangwang U9 Xtreme Is First Production Car To Break 500 KMH

BYD’s 2,959 hp electric hypercar beat its own top speed record with a blistering 312.66 mph run on a public highway in Abu Dhabi

Ferrari and Lamborghini have both said they’re done chasing top speed records. But China’s automakers have no plans to ease back on the accelerator. A Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar has just hit 312.66 mph to set a new top speed record for production cars.

And it’s not just that the U9X is the fastest car on the planet that makes the run so significant. Because Yangwang already owned that record, having recorded 308.3 mph (496.22 kmh) in 2025, when it dethroned the 304.8 mph (490.48 kmh) Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+. No, this new record is a particularly big deal for metric users, because 312.66 mph equates to 503.17 kmh, and means the U9 is the first production car ever to top 500 kmh.

Want to hear something even crazier? The feat was achieved on public roads. The record-breaking run was set on a closed section of Abu Dhabi’s E11 highway with German racing driver Marc Basseng at the wheel. BYD secured exclusive access to a 6.2-mile (10 km) stretch of road, 4.6 miles (7 km) of which were suitable for a top speed attempt. Cleaners pored over every inch of it to make sure it was free from debris and desert sand, and safe for a record run.

Yangwang is BYD’s flagship brand, and the U9 Xtreme gets its outrageous pace from a quartet of electric motors that together generate “over” 2,959 hp (3,000 PS / 2,207 kW). The Xtreme also features a 1,200-volt electrical system instead of the 800-volt setup in the regular U9, and a custom version of BYD’s Blade battery.

Big crash while testing

Yangwang’s team didn’t hit that 313 mph top speed right out of the gate. It performed two runs a day prior, where the U9 only managed 304 mph (490 kmh). But engineers worked through the night, getting the battery and motors to their optimum temperatures, and tweaking the angle of the rear spoiler. They also adjusted the suspension’s rebound damping to better handle the public road’s undulations (which sound terrifying), and tweaked the tire pressures for maximum stability.

The following day those mods proved their worth, and the U9X became the first 500 kmh production car, as ratified by Guinness World Records. It’s also the first car to set a top speed record on public roads since the Koenigsegg Agera RS ripped along an 11-mile (17.7 km) stretch of Nevada Sate Route 160 at 277.87 mph (446.97 kmh) in 2017. Yangwang scored three further records for fastest electric production car, fastest EV tire and fastest road tire. The U9X rides on special semi-slick boots developed by Singapore-based Giti Tire.

But between hitting that milestone and telling the world about it, video footage emerged from China of another U9 Xtreme getting smashed into thousands of pieces while attempting a top speed run in Yangwang’s home country. BYD didn’t disclose how fast the U9 was going when it lost control, or exactly what caused it to spin out, but the force of the impact with the guardrails surrounding the test track destroyed the hypercar, leaving only the central carbon monocoque containing the driver. Incredibly, that driver survived the ordeal without any major injuries.

Source: www.carscoops.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.