Yangwang U9 Xtreme Top speed, 0-60 and the Ring, explained
496.22 km/h on BYD's own record run. A Nürburgring lap on the official list, nearly 3,000 horsepower, and a family that jumps.
The short answer
BYD says the Yangwang U9 Xtreme reached 496.22 km/h (308.4 mph) claimed on September 14, 2025 at the ATP Papenburg test track in Germany, with Marc Basseng driving (CnEVPost). That's the highest top speed any carmaker has claimed for a production car, but it was a one-way run that BYD organized, with no independent certifier named.
Its other record is firmer. The Nürburgring's own 2025 list shows the Xtreme lapping the Nordschleife in 6:59.157 verified, the first production EV under seven minutes (Nürburgring). A Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with a Manthey kit has since gone quicker, 6:55.533, announced in May 2026 verified (Nürburgring). BYD hasn't published any acceleration figure for the Xtreme. The standard U9 is claimed to reach 100 km/h in 2.36 s, which works out to about 2.28 s to 60 mph converted. Our quarter-mile simulation estimates 8.4 s at 190 mph estimate for the Xtreme. No more than 30 will be built, and a BYD executive said they sold for more than 20 million yuan, about $2.76 million, each (CarNewsChina).
Not the car that dances
Three cars share the name, and most mistakes in U9 coverage come from mixing them up. The standard U9 went on sale in February 2024 with 960 kW on an 800 V system. The Track Edition was a test car that ran 472.41 km/h in August 2025 and was never sold. The Xtreme is the limited run that set both records (BYD).
The Xtreme runs a 1,200 V system that BYD calls the world's first in mass production, four motors of 555 kW each and a lithium iron phosphate Blade battery rated to discharge at 30C claimed. That's 2.3 times the standard car's power.
Numbers that don't feel real
Every figure carries its label. claimed means BYD said it. verified means an official third-party listing. recorded is timed on an actual run: an instrumented test, a certified or verified record run, or a maker's own pass on a drag strip's timing system. reported is press reporting. converted is a maker's 0-100 km/h claim converted to 0-60 mph. derived is our math, and estimate is modeled for our race because no published figure exists. Here's how we label numbers.
496.22km/h
Top speed on the September 14, 2025 run, 308.4 mph, one direction only
6:59.157
One lap of the 20.8 km Nordschleife, driven by Moritz Kranz, notarized and checked by TÜV Rheinland
2,220kW
Four 555 kW motors together, about 2,977 horsepower
500rev/s
How fast each motor turns at its 30,000 rpm limit
1,000A
Peak current, which Top Gear says is "the same as some electric trains"
2.92s
Time to cover a quarter mile at its record speed, less than a Mustang GT needs to reach 60 mph
111mph
Average speed for the whole 12.9-mile lap of the Nordschleife, corners included
403days
Since the record run. BYD has promised to try for more than 500 km/h in November 2026.
Zero to 60, in real time
Each bar fills at the real speed of that car's 0-60 time, from the race's lineup. The U9 bar uses the standard car's converted figure, because BYD hasn't published one for the Xtreme.
Tesla Roadster claimed0.81 s
McMurtry Spéirling Pure claimed1.55 s
Rimac Nevera R recorded1.66 s
Tesla Model S Plaid claimed1.99 s
Yangwang U9 converted2.28 s
F1 car estimate2.60 s
Ford Mustang GT recorded3.70 s
Design you notice second
What's hiding in the body
Tap a marker. Figures are BYD claims unless noted. Studio views are our own generated illustrations, not BYD photography or design data.
01Splitter and hood channels
A carbon front splitter and a two-channel hood push air over the car instead of under it. At 300 mph, lift is the enemy.
02Tires built for 500 km/h
The record car ran Giti semi-slicks. Basseng told Top Gear they survived nine minutes at 500 km/h on a test drum; on the run they saw three or four seconds at top speed. Carbon-ceramic brakes sit behind them.
03The "budget" battery
The pack uses lithium iron phosphate Blade cells, a chemistry usually picked for cost and safety, not power. BYD rates it at 30C. Capacity isn't published; the standard U9 carries 80 kWh.
04Cooling for 1,000 amps
Top Gear reports peak current of up to 1,000 A through the 1,200 V system. BYD says the battery gets two-layer cooling to cope; it hasn't detailed where the air through these intakes goes.
05A motor at every corner
Each wheel gets its own 555 kW motor that spins to 30,000 rpm. With no axles linking them, the car can send different torque to every tire.
06A wing hung by its neck
The swan-neck mounts hold the wing from above. BYD says the record car ran a specially tuned version of its DiSus-X suspension, but hasn't said whether customer cars get the same setup.
Why a supercar jumps
DiSus-X is a fully active suspension. Instead of springs that only react, it pushes each corner up or down on command: up to 75 mm of travel, 500 mm per second per axle, drawing up to 36 kW claimed (CnEVPost). That's enough to drive on three wheels, bounce in place, or throw the whole car into the air.
In January 2025 BYD showed a driverless U9 at 120 km/h jumping a 2.5 m water-filled pothole and then a strip of road spikes, a leap BYD says was longer than 6 m (CarNewsChina). BYD has never said why a buyer would need it. Coverage of the first demo compared it to the hydraulic Citroën DS (The Drive).
308 mph, with an asterisk
Basseng ran three laps of Papenburg's 12.3 km oval, reaching 300 mph, then 302, then 308.4, after a "290 mph wobble" on his first try (Top Gear). Afterward he said: "Theoretically, I could have stayed on the throttle for another second and a half. Theoretically." BYD Europe published a full run with VBOX data.
The catch: the run went one way only, and BYD names no independent body that timed it. Motor1 Germany called the certification unclear, and Wikipedia leaves it off its production-car record list (Motor1). But Bugatti's 490.48 km/h benchmark from 2019 carries the same asterisk: one way, in a near-production car with a roll cage (Motor Authority).
U9 Xtreme, one way, 2025496.22
Bugatti Chiron SS 300+, one way, 2019490.48
U9 Track Edition, one way, 2025472.41
SSC Tuatara, two-way average, 2021455.3
Koenigsegg Agera RS, two-way, 2017447
Rimac Nevera R, 2025431.45
Standard U9, test run, 2024391.94
One name, three cars
Figures are BYD claims unless noted. The Track Edition and the Xtreme share a powertrain; only the Xtreme is sold. Photo above: a standard U9 at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show.
U9
On sale since February 2024
The original: four motors, DiSus-X and the jumping, dancing party tricks.
- 0-100 km/h
- 2.36 s
- Power
- 960 kW
- Top speed
- 309 km/h
- Price
- ¥1.8M
Up from ¥1.68M on October 16, 2025 (CnEVPost). Quarter mile 9.78 s, claimed.
Track Edition
Test car, never sold
The first car with the 1,200 V powertrain, built to chase the EV speed record.
- Top speed
- 472.41 km/h
- Power
- 2,220 kW
- System
- 1,200 V
- Run
- Aug 8, 2025
Mate Rimac publicly doubted its 3,000 hp figure; BYD replied with 3,018 hp (InsideEVs).
Xtreme
30 or fewer, worldwide
The record car, with carbon aero, carbon-ceramic brakes and a 30C battery.
- Top speed
- 496.22 km/h
- Nordschleife
- 6:59.157
- Power
- 2,220 kW
- Price
- > ¥20M
No list price. ¥20M is a BYD executive's figure from the April 2026 Beijing show, about $2.76M (CarNewsChina).
From dancing car to record holder
Three years from reveal to the fastest claimed top speed of any production car. Scroll sideways.
1,386days since the U9 was first shown
Nov to Dec 2022
"Looking up"
BYD settles on 仰望 as the name of its new luxury brand and reveals a logo drawn from the oracle-bone character for electricity.
Jan 5, 2023
The U9 appears
Yangwang launches with its e4 four-motor platform, and the U9 is revealed with DiSus-X suspension.
Apr 2023
Three wheels and a jump
At Auto Shanghai the U9 drives on three wheels and hops all four off the ground. The clip goes around the world.
Feb 25, 2024
On sale for ¥1.68M
One trim, 960 kW, 2.36 s to 100 km/h claimed. Deliveries start that August.
Nov 2024
391.94 km/h and a 7:17
BYD announces 391.94 km/h for the standard car as a Chinese production-car record, and a 7:17.900 Nordschleife lap.
Jan 2025
Jumps, fines and 100 cars
A driverless U9 clears a pothole and road spikes, owners are fined for dancing on public streets, and the 100th car is delivered.
Aug 8, 2025
Track Edition: 472.41 km/h
Basseng breaks the EV speed record at Papenburg. Days later, Mate Rimac questions whether the battery can supply 3,000 hp.
Sep 14, 2025
496.22 km/h
The Xtreme beats Bugatti's 2019 mark by about 6 km/h on a one-way run. Reservations open six days later.
Oct 10, 2025
6:59.157
Moritz Kranz takes the Xtreme under seven minutes at the Nordschleife in a private session, about 5.8 s quicker than the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra's production lap. BYD announces it on October 21.
Oct 16, 2025
A price rise in a price war
The standard U9 goes up 7.14% to ¥1.8M while the rest of the BYD group cuts prices.
Dec 2025
On the official list
The Nürburgring publishes its 2025 records. TopGear.com later names the speed run its Moment of the Year.
Feb 2026
Hammond drives it
Richard Hammond takes the Xtreme out for DRIVETRIBE and BYD UK.
Apr 2026
Gran Turismo, then ¥20M
The U9 joins Gran Turismo 7 on April 22. At the Beijing show an Xtreme sells for more than ¥20M, and BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu hands one over himself.
Nov 2026
500 km/h, promised
At Goodwood in July, BYD vice president Stella Li said the Xtreme will try to pass 500 km/h at Papenburg in November. No date has been set.
What people are saying
Reaction split four ways. These are opinions, quoted with links.
Celebrators
"Two runs or no, that's an achievement worth celebrating."Amber DaSilva, Jalopnik
TopGear.com named the run its Moment of the Year. Editor Jack Rix said beating Bugatti "at its own game is just the beginning" (BYD).
The asterisk
"The straight is more than long enough… I exit the banking at 300kph."Marc Basseng, answering critics, Top Gear
Skeptics point to the one-way run, the missing Guinness entry and the fact that BYD organized it. Autobuzz ran its story "…with a catch" (Autobuzz).
The power doubter
Before the record, Bugatti Rimac CEO Mate Rimac wrote that LFP cells couldn't sustain the discharge needed for 3,000 hp, and that road tires couldn't use it anyway until about 100 mph (InsideEVs, paraphrasing). BYD answered with a 3,018 hp figure. Poland's Otomoto headline: "Rimac się myli!", Rimac is wrong (Otomoto). His doubts were about the power claim, not the speed run.
China rising
"China's EVs are now playing in Porsche's backyard and winning."Headline, CarNewsChina opinion
The Ring lap beat the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra's 7:04.957, which had already displaced the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT's 7:07.55 in April 2025. Italian outlets framed it as the Chinese car that costs more than a Ferrari (Auto.it).
The consensus: an extraordinary engineering result with a technical asterisk on the speed and none on the lap. Outside car circles, the U9 is still best known as "the dancing car." The November 2026 attempt could settle the argument if BYD runs it both ways with an independent timer.
Live: news and buzz
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See it for yourself
496.22 km/h: the record run
BYD Global · Sep 21, 2025 · 1:45
The full run, with VBOX data
BYD Europe · Sep 20, 2025 · 2:48
6:59.157, the official lap
Nürburgring · Oct 21, 2025 · 7:04
Fastest car on Earth: full film
BYD Europe · Sep 24, 2025 · 12:38
The driverless jump test
BYD Global · Jan 13, 2025 · 1:41
Richard Hammond drives it
DRIVETRIBE · Feb 22, 2026 · 8:59
We need to talk about China's 300 mph car
Donut · Oct 10, 2025 · 9:14
Is 400 mph possible?
Engineering Explained · Oct 3, 2025 · 12:31
Onboard the standard U9's Ring lap
BYD Global · Nov 17, 2024 · 8:12
The "reasonably priced" hypercar
Everything Electric · Jul 11, 2024 · 10:54
Sight and insight: the 2023 film
BYD Global · Apr 21, 2023 · 0:51
Ahead of the game: the first film
BYD Global · Jan 15, 2023 · 1:04
Things most people don't know
01
Two records, two drivers
Marc Basseng set the top speed. Moritz Kranz, with nearly 10,000 Nordschleife laps behind him, set the Ring time.
02
Three records, one oval
Basseng has now set three EV speed records in a row at Papenburg: in an Aspark Owl in 2024, then the Track Edition, then the Xtreme.
03
The lap had no warm-up
The drivers hadn't been in the car for three weeks before the record session. A Yangwang executive said more laps would have meant a faster time.
04
The "cheap" battery chemistry won
The record battery uses lithium iron phosphate, the chemistry carmakers usually pick for cost and safety rather than power.
05
It got pricier in a price war
In October 2025 the U9 went up 7.14% to ¥1.8M, while the rest of the BYD group was cutting prices.
06
Eleven standard cars for one Xtreme
At more than ¥20M, one Xtreme costs about as much as eleven standard U9s.
Our math from CarNewsChina and CnEVPost prices
07
Dancing is a ticketable offense
Chinese police have fined U9 owners for making the car bounce on public streets, including one who blocked traffic and ignored a siren.
08
You can drive one in Gran Turismo
The U9 joined Gran Turismo 7 in update 1.69 on April 22, 2026, under the headline "The World's Most Powerful Production Car."
Its neighbors on the strip
In our quarter-mile model the U9 Xtreme finishes fifth of 21. Its 190 mph trap speed is second only to the Top Fuel dragster; it just starts slower. The car just quicker and the car just slower:
McMurtry Spéirling Pure7.97 s at 190 mph: time recorded, trap estimate. Run by the 2021 Spéirling prototype in 2022 on a 150 mph limiter; our race runs it without one. Read the profile
F1 car8.60 s at 176 mph estimate. Read the profile
Card photos: McMurtry Spéirling by Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0, edited.
Questions people ask
How fast is the Yangwang U9 Xtreme?
BYD says the U9 Xtreme reached 496.22 km/h (308.4 mph) on September 14, 2025 at the ATP Papenburg test track in Germany, with Marc Basseng driving. That's BYD's claim from a one-way run; no independent body such as Guinness has certified it. Its 6:59.157 lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife is on the circuit's official 2025 list.
Is the U9 Xtreme the world's fastest production car?
It has the highest top speed any carmaker has claimed for a production car, beating the 490.48 km/h Bugatti ran in 2019. Both runs went in one direction only. The fastest two-way average, the measure record keepers prefer, is still the SSC Tuatara's 455.3 km/h from 2021. BYD has promised a run past 500 km/h in November 2026.
What is the Yangwang U9 Xtreme's 0-60 time?
BYD hasn't published one. The standard U9 is claimed to reach 100 km/h in 2.36 seconds, which converts to about 2.28 seconds to 60 mph. That figure belongs to the standard car, and the Xtreme has no official acceleration time at all.
What is the U9 Xtreme's quarter-mile time?
No one has published one. BYD claims 9.78 seconds for the standard U9. Our quarter-mile simulation estimates 8.4 seconds at 190 mph for the Xtreme. Treat that as a modeled estimate, not a result.
How much does the Yangwang U9 Xtreme cost?
There's no public list price. A BYD executive said cars sold for more than 20 million yuan, about 2.76 million US dollars, at the April 2026 Beijing Auto Show. The standard U9 costs 1.8 million yuan after a price rise on October 16, 2025.
Can the Yangwang U9 really jump?
Yes. Its DiSus-X active suspension can lift each axle at 500 mm per second, so the car can drive on three wheels, bounce in place and jump with all four wheels off the ground. In a January 2025 BYD video, a driverless U9 at 120 km/h cleared a 2.5 m pothole and a strip of road spikes.
Labels, sources and credits
Labels. Claimed: BYD or Yangwang said it. Verified: an official third-party listing, here the Nürburgring's record list. Reported: press reporting we couldn't trace to BYD or a certifier. Recorded: timed on an actual run: an instrumented test, a certified or verified record run, or a maker's own pass on a drag strip's timing system. Converted: a maker's 0-100 km/h (62.1 mph) claim converted to 0-60 mph. Derived: our math. Estimate: modeled for our race because no published figure exists. Both are explained in the methodology guide. Race figures come from the lineup in our quarter-mile simulator, which is an illustrative model. Horsepower is converted from BYD's kilowatt figures; 2,220 kW is about 2,977 hp or 3,018 PS, which is why coverage quotes several numbers.
- CnEVPost, Xtreme unveiling, September 22, 2025
- Nürburgring, official record runs list, published December 11, 2025
- BYD Middle East and Africa, Track Edition release, August 26, 2025
- CnEVPost, U9 launch, February 25, 2024, and BYD via Business Wire for 2.36 s and 9.78 s
- Top Gear, Basseng interview, September 23, 2025, and Moment of the Year
- Motor1 Germany, September 22, 2025
- CarNewsChina, Beijing sale, April 30, 2026, and 500 km/h pledge, July 14, 2026
- Jalopnik, September 22, 2025
Images. Photos are of the standard U9, not the Xtreme: Wikimedia Commons has no freely licensed Xtreme photo. Pit garage front and rear and street: JustAnotherCarDesigner, CC0 (003, 004, 008). Japan Mobility Show front and rear: TTTNIS, CC0 (front, rear). Auto Shenzhen 2025: LKS1990, CC0. The hero and the studio views are our own generated illustrations. None are BYD photos.
