The 2026 YangWang U9 Xtreme is now the fastest car on earth.
It has humbled the likes of Bugatti and Koenigsegg clocking an astonishing 496.22km/h at Germany’s Papenburg proving ground.
That smashes the 455.3km/h official top speed set by the SSC Tuatara in 2021.
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The latest achievement comes only weeks after the U9 Xtreme set the top speed record for an EV.
Perhaps most depressing for combustion-powered hypercars, onboard footage of the attempt showed driver, Marc Basseng, was on track to crack 500km/h before the car began to veer close to the barriers forcing the German to back off the throttle.
For now, the record velocity set by the U9 Xtreme remains strictly unofficial as any world record would need to be independently verified and also set over an average of two runs in opposing directions.
That’s something that isn’t possible at the Papenburg high-speed oval in Germany.
There’s no word if the BYD brand will revisit the top speed attempt, but as it stands the YangWang’s record remains an incredible feat.
It not only surpasses the official SSC Tuatara record but also overtakes the wild 490.48km/h record set in 2019 by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+.
Bugatti’s record is unofficial as it was also only recorded in one direction.
Following on from the YangWang U9 Track Edition’s recent EV speed record, it was expected the BYD supercar would eventually take the top speed crown.
But the speed of the U9’s development has been remarkable.
To help it hit almost 500km/h, engineers resisted giving the U9 any more power, instead keeping the Track Edition’s four e-motors producing 555kW each.
That means total power was capped at a mighty 2221kW.
But making the difference was junking the standard car’s 800-volt electrics and installing an even higher output 1200V system that allows for the higher current needed for the top speed.
Not content with setting the highest speed ever for a production car, BYD has also announced a YangWang U9 also recently set a new Nurburgring lap record for an EV with a 6:59.157 hot lap.
Announcing that it will make just 30 of its latest 2026 YangWang U9 Xtreme hypercars there’s no word on how much more BYD’s brand will charge over the $360,000 list price for the standard U9.
Meanwhile, it’s been confirmed models from the YangWang line-up including the U9 are under serious consideration for Australia, where they will be sold under the Denza badge.
The first YangWang to come to Australia is likely to be the luxurious U8 SUV.
Denza will launch before the end of 2025 in Australia, but there won’t be any rebadged YangWangs amongst the first three or four models we’ll see.
