BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme has set a new single-direction speed record for a production car, reaching 503.17 km/h on a closed highway in Abu Dhabi.
The electric hypercar surpassed its own previous best of 496.22 km/h, set last year.
From BYD Europe’s X account, the company said: “Yangwang U9 Xtreme has done the impossible, surpassing 500km/h to set a new world speed record in Abu Dhabi.”
It continued by saying that it’s officially the fastest production car in the world: “The fastest production car on the planet just got faster.”
The U9 Xtreme outdoes famous ICE models from hypercar manufacturer Bugatti, known for extreme hypercars. It is also more than 90 km/h faster than the Rimac Nevera, which tops out at 412 km/h.
BYD launched the standard Yangwang U9 in February 2024. A couple of months later, it was spotted being tested to reach speeds of 375 km/h, well above the original claim of 309 km/h. That car had a 960 kW quad-motor powertrain.
Then, in August 2025, details from China revealed that the U9 supercar has a hypercar variant about to launch, featuring about 2,220 kW from four 555 kW motors.
During the same year, the U9 Xtreme also set a lap time of 6 minutes and 59 seconds on the iconic Nürburgring track in Germany, making it one of the fastest cars around the ring.
Electric hypercars such as the Rimac Nevera and Lotus Evija have powertrains that hover around 1,500 kW of output, which the U9 Xtreme easily exceeds.
For comparison, BYD claims the standard U9 can accelerate from 0–100 km/h in 2.36 seconds
The current car is equipped with an 80 kWh BYD Blade battery pack capable of delivering up to 450 km of CLTC range, which, in the real world, is likely closer to 370 km on the WLTP cycle.
Pricing-wise, the U9 starts at the equivalent of more than A$230,000 and has been sold in showrooms across China. This Xtreme variant is estimated to be around A$4 million, equivalent to 20 million RMB.
When the standard U9 launched in 2024, BYD quoted a top speed of 309 km/h. Less than three years later, the Xtreme has taken the U9 past 500 km/h, showing that electric hypercars can match or beat the fastest petrol-powered production cars for outright speed.
