BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme has become the first production car to pass 500km/h, recording 503.17km/h on a closed section of public highway in Abu Dhabi and beating its own 496.22km/h record set in Germany last year.
Racing driver Marc Basseng set the speed on 1 November on the E11, the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road, in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region. Around 10km of the desert highway was closed and swept before the runs, which took place over 31 October and 1 November.
Yangwang announced the result on 6 November, billing the U9 Xtreme as the fastest production car on earth. The run was recognised with four Guinness World Records titles: fastest production car, fastest electric vehicle, and fastest EV tyre and fastest road car tyre for the Giti tyres fitted.
Changes between runs
Engineers adjusted tyre pressures, suspension settings and aerodynamics between runs. The adaptive damper software was retuned to increase rebound damping, helping the car cope with undulations in the road surface, and the rear wing angle was changed to add downforce. The large swan-neck wing used for the car’s Nürburgring lap was not fitted.
The car
The U9 Xtreme uses four motors that each produce 555kW and spin to 30,000rpm, for a combined 2,220kW. They run on a 1,200V platform fed by a track-grade Blade battery capable of 30C discharge, with DiSus-X active body control, titanium brake calipers and carbon-ceramic discs.
Production is limited to 30 cars, priced at more than RMB 20 million (approx. US$2.94 million) each.
The previous record
The U9 Xtreme recorded 496.22km/h at the ATP proving ground in Papenburg, Germany, in September 2025, the same month it lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6min 59.157sec.
The Abu Dhabi figure is a one-way top speed. Yangwang did not record a two-way average, so the SSC Tuatara’s 455.3km/h average, verified in 2021, remains the two-way record.
Crash in testing
A U9 Xtreme crashed during high-speed testing in China ahead of the Abu Dhabi attempt. During a test aimed at 420-450km/h, the car hit the left guardrail, lost control and struck the right guardrail, and was heavily damaged. The driver said the first impact came at around 360km/h.
The driver, Yangwang test driver Jiang Wen, has worked for BYD for 23 years and volunteered for the high-speed test. He said the car felt as though it was floating, and when he lifted off the throttle the rear began to swing. He took his hands off the wheel and held them to his chest as the car crossed from the left side of the road to the right.
Hospital checks found he had no serious injuries. Hu Xiaoqing, general manager of Yangwang’s sales division, said that when she called the site he had not yet gone to hospital and was still standing around watching, so she told staff to take him immediately.
Yangwang will reveal its Altior flagship sedan at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on 8 November.
