BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme has become the first production car to exceed 500 km/h (310.69 mph). With racing driver Marc Basseng at the wheel, the electric hypercar reached 503.17 km/h (312.66 mph) on a closed stretch of the E11 highway in Abu Dhabi on 1 November. That’s nearly 140 metres every second.
Yangwang U9 Xtreme Breaks the 500 km/h Barrier
The Abu Dhabi run added 6.95 km/h to the U9 Xtreme’s previous best of 496.22 km/h (308.34 mph), set at Germany’s ATP Papenburg proving ground in September 2025. BYD had previously floated Dubai as a possible venue, but the attempt ultimately took place in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region.
The 503.17 km/h figure is a one-way peak speed. The two-way benchmark still belongs to the SSC Tuatara, which averaged 455.3 km/h (282.9 mph) across runs in opposite directions in 2021.
The U9 Xtreme Has Already Gone Sub-Seven at the Nürburgring
Before heading to Abu Dhabi, the U9 Xtreme lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:59.157. That made it the first car in the circuit’s electric super sports car class to break seven minutes.
Four Electric Motors and Only 30 Cars
The U9 Xtreme runs on a 1,200-volt electrical architecture. Its four electric motors can spin to 30,000 rpm and produce a combined 2,977 hp (2,220 kW). Yangwang also revised the tyres, brakes and cooling for sustained high-speed running.
A deep carbon-fibre front splitter, a twin-channel bonnet, a rear diffuser and a swan-neck rear wing distinguish the Xtreme from the standard U9. Yangwang plans to build no more than 30 examples worldwide.