Chinese automaker BYD’s luxury sub-brand Yangwang has set a new top-speed record for production cars with the U9 Xtreme all-electric performance car.

Tested at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg track in Germany, the U9 Xtreme reached a staggering top whack of 496.22km/h. For comparison, that’s nearly six seconds faster than the previous record (490.484km/h) that has been held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ since 2019. Yangwang obliterated the Ospark Owl and Rimac Nevera, and bested its own global EV top speed record in the U9 set last year.

Limited to just 30 examples, the U9 Xtreme, officially launched earlier this month, is a more hardcore version of the ‘standard’ U9, which is already available in China. The U9 Xtreme employs four electric motors, fed by a 1 200 V lithium-iron phosphate Blade Battery. Combined, the most-focused U9’s quad electric-motor setup produces an eye-widening 2 206kW. Track-focused equipment on the U9 Xtreme includes semi-slick tyres and revised DiSus-X suspension.

German racing driver Marc Basseng, a multi-discipline gold medallist, was behind the wheel of the U9 Xtreme when the record was set. Basseng was also behind the wheel of the ‘standard’ U9 when it set the previous production EV top-speed record – 272.41km/h – on the same track.

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The post Yangwang U9 Xtreme Shatters World Top-Speed Record for Production Cars appeared first on CAR Magazine.

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