BYD’s luxury marque YANGWANG has pushed the U9 Xtreme past a major automotive milestone. The electric hypercar recorded 503.17 km/h, or 312.65 mph, on a closed section of the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road (E11) in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Region.
The run took place on November 1. German racing driver Marc Basseng drove the car, while the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) verified the result.
The achievement makes the U9 Xtreme the first production car to exceed 500 km/h. It also surpasses the model’s previous best of 496.22 km/h, set in Germany last year.
Guinness World Records has certified the run in two categories. The U9 Xtreme now holds the records for the highest speed achieved by a production car and by an electric production car in a single-direction run.
The record applies specifically to a one-way speed measurement. It does not follow the conventional two-way flying-mile format, which averages speeds in opposite directions to reduce the effect of wind and road gradient.
Even so, the result marks a major moment for electric performance. BYD says the U9 Xtreme produced 3,019 PS during the record attempt.
The team conducted two initial runs on October 31 and reached 490 km/h. Engineers then revised the car’s aerodynamics, suspension settings and tyre pressures to improve high-speed stability.
Authorities closed a 10-km stretch of the E11 for the test. The team used a seven-km straight section for the record attempt. The U9 Xtreme’s 503.17 km/h run does not make high-speed EVs an everyday reality. But it establishes a new reference point for what production electric cars can achieve under controlled conditions.
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