ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images
- There’s a new fastest car on the market, and it’s built by a Chinese Tesla rival.
- BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme recorded a record top speed of over 300 miles per hour over the weekend.
- China is known for boasting the world’s cheapest EVs, and is now home to the fastest.
A Chinese EV has smashed the record for the world’s fastest production car.
BYD’s Yangwang U9 “Xtreme” supercar recorded a blistering top speed of 496.22km/h (308 miles per hour) at a test track in Germany earlier this month, the Chinese EV maker said on Monday.
That’s a record for a production car, handily beating the 490.5 km/h (304.7 mph) set by Bugatti’s Chiron Super Sport in 2019 and marking the first time the title of world’s fastest car has been held by an EV.
The Xtreme is a high-performance version of Yangwang U9, BYD’s pothole-jumping hypercar, which costs around $233,000 in China.
BYD said just 30 units of the ultra-fast variant, which features an upgraded powertrain and battery system, will be made.
It means that as well as boasting the world’s cheapest EVs, China is now home to the fastest.
Electric vehicle adoption in the Asian superpower has far outpaced the rest of the world, with EVs making up close to 50% of new car sales last year.
Growing acceptance of EVs and a fiercely competitive car market — with more than 100 brands battling for customers — has sparked an explosion of innovation.
Many Chinese automakers now offer autonomous driving and AI features as standard, and futuristic tech such as battery swapping is becoming a common sight on Chinese roads.
Earlier this year, BYD and battery rival CATL showed off new charging technology that they said could add hundreds of miles of range after just five minutes of charging.
Thanks to high tariffs on imported Chinese cars, US auto enthusiasts are unlikely to get their hands on the base version of the Yangwang U9 anytime soon.
However, BYD’s executive vice-president Stella Li previously told Autocar that the Yangwang U9 will go on sale in Europe from 2027, along with the Yangwang U8, a $120,000 SUV that can spin 360 degrees on the spot and float on water.
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