World Leader
Despite the opinion and criticism flung at the BYD Cars group, it has surpassed expectations and become a leading EV brand worldwide. BYD’s immense growth and increasing product share have enabled it to expand beyond just the BYD brand, with more new niche brands under its widening umbrella.
One of its halo projects is the Yangwang brand, which represents the best the BYD group has to offer in technology, efficiency, and performance. The latter trait shows up in the U9, BYD’s hypercar EV, and the Extreme variant lives up to the name, delivering the ultimate expression of how fast a modern EV can go.
Yangwang
Faster and Faster
We’ve already seen the U9 Extreme reach unbelievable speeds, paired with mind-bending acceleration. In fact, the U9 has a verified, world-record-breaking top-speed run of 308 mph. All of that comes from 3,000 hp of battery power that can spool up to an incredible 30,000 rpm. You’d think they’d be satisfied with that, with no other brand even close to breaking that record, but nope, BYD isn’t done dropping our jaws just yet.
According to CarNewsChina, BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li said they will attempt to go faster with the U9 Extreme this November. According to the report, BYD will attempt to push past the 500 km/h (310 mph) mark in Dubai next month. Li says that to attempt the run, the team needs a stretch of road at least 15 kilometers long and is already working with local authorities to find the right place. Despite the brand’s announcement, there are no specifics yet on the venue or date for the run.
This new statement from Li differs from Car News China’s previous report that planned another high-speed run at Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP). It isn’t clear yet if there will be two separate runs or if the brand has decided to move from Germany to Dubai.
The Others
The closest another car comes to the Yangwang U9 Extreme’s 308 mph run is the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300, which clocked a staggering 304 mph for an ICE, non-electrified assisted motor. In 2017, Koenigsegg also sent its Agera RS on its own run and set a record at 277 mph.
It’ll be interesting to see how the U9 Extreme will break through the 310 mph barrier, as we know physics changes at speeds that high, and it’ll take a monumental engineering effort to ensure the U9 Extreme will be able to reach those speeds safely.
About the author
Pablo Salapantan
News Editor