BYD’s premium brand unveils track-focused hypercar variant with enhanced aerodynamics and performance upgrades targeting global supercar market.
BYD’s luxury Yangwang brand has unveiled the U9 Xtreme, a track-focused variant of its electric hypercar that achieved a top speed of 496.22kph and completed a Nürburgring lap in 6 minutes 59.157 seconds.
The Xtreme edition features enhanced aerodynamic components including a prominent rear wing, front splitter, and revised bodywork designed to maximise downforce and high-speed stability.
The vehicle boasts a new 1200-volt silicon carbide platform and four motors each producing 555kW for 2,220kW of power in total.
Just 30 units of the U9 Xtreme will be produced for global markets.
According to Yangwang, the U9 Xtreme was developed specifically to claim two world records, those of the fastest production car ever, and the fastest production electric car around the Nurburgring.
It uses both the existing Disus-X suspension, which combines pneumatic and air suspension technologies, as well as a proprietary technology called Yi Si Fang.
It features the world’s first mass-produced 1,200-volt full-domain high-voltage platform, increasing power by 1,339 percent and with heat exchange efficiency improved by 40 percent.
This enables the battery to discharge at a 30C rate thanks to optimised cells and a new double-layer cooling structure, drastically improving speed performance.
Combined with the near 3,000hp produced by the four electric motors, the U9 Xtreme features a power-to-weight ratio of 1,200hp per tonne.
The U9 Xtreme also boasts an optimised anti-roll bar system, increased damping bandwidth, and front and rear suspension arms constructed from aviation-grade aluminium alloy, while titanium alloy brake calipers and carbon ceramic brake discs ensure braking performance is maintained even at extreme temperatures.
Additionally, the U9 Xtreme features custom tyres produced to cope with speeds over 500kph, with ultra-high-strength aramid fibre belts, increased silicon levels, and a double-layer water drainage groove system, as well as a new non-thermoplastic formula that increases the friction coefficient by over 36 percent to improve grip and handling.
On the aero front, the U9 Xtreme gets extensive modifications, including revised air intakes, extended side skirts for better channeling the air, and a larger rear diffuser for improved ground effect aerodynamics, as well as a fixed rear wing and extensive use of carbon fibre.
China’s absence from the highest echelons of motorsport has been well and truly crushed this year with Yangwang and Xiaomi now embarking on a war not only to be China’s fastest brand but the world’s.
With its high speed record, the U9 Xtreme has edged out the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, the previous record holder for world’s fastest production car with a speed of 490.5kph, almost becoming the first production car to ever pass 500kph with a top speed of 496.22kph confirmed at Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg site.
Meanwhile, on the Nurburgring, where the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra Nurburgring Edition just recently became the fastest production electric car around the hallowed 20.8km circuit with a time of 7:04:957, the U9 Xtreme has raised the bar further, taking five seconds off its record with a time of 6:59:157.
This means Chinese electric cars now hold the top two spots on the podium for production electric cars around the Nurburgring, though it must be noted that the SU7 Ultra boasts almost half the power of the U9 Xtreme with a top speed limited to 350kph. Expect this war for Nurburgring supremacy to hot up quickly.
The U9 Xtreme remains around 30 seconds slower than than the fastest production car ever around the Nurburgring, the Mercedes-AMG ONE, which holds a time of 6:29:09, demonstrating the existing drawbacks of electric cars which remain heavier and therefore slower in the corners.
While BYD has not announced official pricing for the U9 Xtreme, the standard U9 retails for RMB 1,680,000 (£172,800 / $235,200) in China, suggesting the Xtreme variant will command a significant premium.
