BYD's Yangwang U9 Xtreme targets 500 km/h speed record

Chinese automaker BYD’s luxury division Yangwang has built the electric hyper‑car U9 Xtreme, a 3 000‑horsepower vehicle with an 80 kWh battery and more than 2 000 kW of power. In September it reached a one‑way top speed of 496.22 km/h on the Papenburg automotive testing track in Germany, falling just short of the 500 km/h milestone.

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, BYD vice‑president Stella Li announced that the company will return to Papenburg in the autumn to attempt a new run aimed at surpassing the 500 km/h barrier. Engineers believe an extra 1.5 seconds of full‑throttle straight‑line running could be enough, and further aerodynamic refinements are planned. The U9 Xtreme already beat the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+’s single‑direction record of 490 km/h, while the SSC Tuatara still holds the official two‑way record of 455 km/h.