BYD smashes EV speed records as U9 hypercar hits 472.4 km/h

BYD has officially broken the world EV top speed record with its first electric supercar, the two-door U9 Track Edition test vehicle, under its Yangwang luxury brand.

The U9 hit a staggering 472.41 km/h at ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany, with the full video of the track run being shared by the company on X.

The video from the car shows warming of the tyres for over 60 seconds before undertaking the incredible run in the U9 Track Edition test vehicle, achieving 300 km/h.

It then goes on to hitting 472.41 km/h before slowing down on the track.

This is 60 km/h above the top speed of Rimac Nevera which tops out at 412 km/h.

The top speed record was set by German driver Marc Basseng, who said, “Last year, I thought I’d peaked. I never expected to break my own record so soon — but here we are, at the same track, with new technologies that have made it possible.”

In 2023, BYD launched its first electric supercar the two-door U9, under its Yangwang luxury brand. Within months, it was spotted being tested to reach speeds of 375 km/h, well above the original claim of 309 km/h.

That was off the back of a 960 kW quad-motor powertrain, or almost 1,290 HP.

Then earlier this month, details from regulatory filings in China revealed that the U9 supercar has a hypercar variant about to be launched, featuring a whopping 2,978 HP or 2,200 kW, thanks to a quad 555 kW motor powertrain.

This variant now appears to be this Track Edition which makes the U9 likely the most powerful electric production car from any brand globally.

Electric hypercars such as the Rimac Nevera and Lotus Evija have powertrains that hover around 1,500 kW output, which this U9 easily exceeds.

In this new U9, a 1,200 V architecture is found and also features the company’s latest in motor tech, which BYD announced as part of its 1,000 kW charging announcement it made in March this year.

As part of that announcement, BYD announced the latest in electric motor technology the company had engineered for its future EV lineup.

The U9 appears to have this featured in with e-motors that can spin at speeds of over 30,000 rpm, the highest of any production vehicle.

These motors will also help deliver a power output of 580 kW with a power density of 16.4 kW/kg.

That appears to be in line with what is seen with the Yangwang U9’s 555 kW motors likely to be in this test car as well as its upcoming production ready variant.

According to the March announcement, the new motors will also have new Silicon Carbide power chips.

That will ensure they can handle the high voltages and currents in this new platform.

The Yangwang U9 has been a halo car by the brand, and having hit the 375 km/h speeds in August last year, it’s continued to gain media attention.

The updated U9 Track Edition is certainly faster than the current production model, which can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 2.36 seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating BYD vehicle to date.

The current car is equipped with an 80 kWh BYD blade battery pack that’s capable of delivering up to 450 km of CLTC range, which, of course, in the real world is likely to be closer to 370 km on the WLTP cycle.

That’s plenty for a hypercar and will help get a few laps in on a race track.

This supercar also supports the company’s latest dual-input fast-charging capability. This helps the car charge from 30-80% in just 10 minutes.

Pricing-wise, the U9 has a starting price of over $A232,064 and has been sold in showrooms across China. The Track Edition will have a premium given its incredible power output and performance gains.

We saw the U9 in person at Yangwang showrooms and on a test track in Shenzhen in May. Just from that experience, it’s easy to see that this hypercar is designed to offer more than just a track experience.

More details on the upcoming hypercar model from this test vehicle and production car are likely to be revealed in the coming months.