Yangwang U9 Xtreme hits 503kph, becomes the first production car to cross 500kph

The Yangwang U9 Extreme has set a new top-speed record for a production car. It hit 503.17 kph on November 1, 2026. That makes it the first production car to cross the 500kph barrier. BYD’s luxury arm says this single-direction run earned the electric hypercar two Guinness World Records: the fastest production car and the fastest electric production car.

The record run
Marc Basseng drove the car. He is an FIA GT1 World Champion and a 24 Hours of Nurburgring winner. He piloted the U9 Xtreme on a 10km section of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road in the Al Dhafra region. The longest straight on that stretch was 7km.

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The highway sees regular traffic and sits close to the desert. Yangwang says it had to clean the road thoroughly before the high-speed runs. Basseng talked about the challenge. He said a public road is different from a dedicated test track. That makes precision, stability and confidence in the car more important than ever.

How it came together
The U9 Xtreme made two runs on October 31, 2026. It reached a maximum of 490kph. The Chinese brand says the team then worked through the night. It adjusted the battery and motor temperatures, the rear-wing angle, the suspension software and the tyre pressures.

The car crossed 500kph on the second of two runs the next day. Guinness World Records recognised the 503.17kph top speed. So did the FIA, the governing body of motorsport.

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Beating its own records
The U9 Xtreme beat its own earlier record of 496.22kph. It set that figure in September 2025 at Germany’s ATP Papenburg test track. Basseng drove that run too. The car also holds the fastest Nurburgring Nordschleife lap time for a production EV. The time is 6 minutes and 59.157 seconds.

Power and technology
Four electric motors power the U9 Xtreme. Each one makes around 755hp and can spin up to 30,000rpm. Together, they put out 3,019hp, according to the brand. That is more than double the standard U9’s 1,287hp. It gives the Xtreme a power-to-weight ratio of 1,217hp per tonne.

The standard U9 has an 800V architecture. The Xtreme runs on a 1,200V setup. The brand says the extra power and thermal-management requirements made this necessary. The car also uses BYD’s Blade Battery tech and the DiSus-X active body control system. It rides on track-focused semi-slick tyres that Yangwang co-developed with Giti Tire.

Yangwang will build only 30 units of U9 Xtreme worldwide.