When we say the Chinese vehicle manufacturers are coming for everything, you should take them very seriously. In this short time, many OEM brands have taken the motoring industry by storm with such feats as class-leading NEV and BEV technology, safety systems, and eyebrow-raising features like a car that floats in water. The latest addition to their list of accomplishments is the world's fastest production car.
The SSC Ultimate Aero was the previous fastest production car, holding the title from 2007 to 2010, before the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport took over. Before that, the Koenigsegg Agera RS held the record from 2017 to 2019, and the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ set a speed record in 2019. Now, the title belongs to, well, obviously an electric hypercar, but not from Rimac, Tesla, or any other usual suspect. Instead, the fastest production car in the world now belongs to the YANGWANG U9 Xtreme, an all-electric hypercar that reached a speed of 496. 22 km /h.
The U9 is the second vehicle from the Yangwang brand after the U8 off-road SUV and was formally introduced at Auto Shanghai in April 2023. You may remember the car that can jump or drive a significant distance without a whole tire. Now it has received a track-focus upgrade which features the world's first mass-produced 1,200V "Blade" ultra-high-voltage vehicle platform, which has a four electric motor setup, one on each tire. That together produces over 2237 kW, allowing it to achieve 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 2.5 seconds.
BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li said: “This is an incredibly proud moment for everyone in the research and development division. YANGWANG is a brand that does not recognise the impossible, and only through this commitment to what’s coming next can you end up with a vehicle like the U9X. I extend my gratitude to the whole team, and my thanks to the driver, Marc Basseng, for his skill and technical input. It’s terrific that the fastest production car in the world is now electric.”
Who better to attempt this great feat than Marc Basseng, a German track specialist who not only has a long history in sports-car racing but is responsible for previously benchmarking a time of 233 mph in the standard version of the U9 ? He said , "This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme simply has incredible performance. Technically, something like this is not possible with a combustion engine. Thanks to the electric motor, the car is quiet ; there are no load changes, and that allows me to focus even more on the track."
The U9 Xtreme is now being made available to customers, with a limited series production run of no more than 30 units. Its name is derived from the English word 'Extreme, ' meaning 'limit' and 'ultimate,' with added emphasis on the 'X,' which represents the unknown. These qualities capture YANGWANG's ethos of taking joy and delight from the act of exploration and the innovations that come through that process.