The electric hypercar world has a new king, and it comes from a brand you need to know. Move over, everyone else—BYD’s high-end sub-brand, YANGWANG, has just set a blistering new top-speed record for a production electric vehicle, pushing its U9 Track Edition supercar to an incredible 472.41 km/h. This isn’t just creeping past the old record; it’s smashing it to pieces on the legendary tarmac of the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany.
The record, set on August 8, 2025, officially makes the YANGWANG U9 the fastest EV on the planet. Behind the wheel was German professional driver Marc Basseng, the very same driver who set the previous global EV speed record in 2024.“Last year, I thought I’d peaked,” Basseng said after the run.
“I never expected to break my own record so soon, but here we are, at the same track, with new technologies that have made it possible.” So, how did they do it? This insane velocity isn’t just down to a big battery and a heavy right foot. The U9 Track Edition is a showcase of bleeding-edge technology.
The Tech That Rewrote the Record Books
The U9 Track Edition is built on two core pieces of YANGWANG’s architecture: the e⁴ Platform and the DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System. First, let’s talk power. The e⁴ Platform is the world’s first quad-motor system to use 30,000rpm high-performance motors. Each motor belts out a peak of 555kW, giving the U9 a combined system output that exceeds a mind-boggling 3,000PS.To put that in perspective, this gives the car a power-to-weight ratio of 1,217PS per tonne, placing it firmly in the upper echelon of the global hypercar elite. But all that power is useless if you can’t put it down. That’s where the brains come in.
The quad-motor setup allows for independent torque-vectoring that monitors the road and adjusts the torque at each wheel more than 100 times per second. This means that even at speeds approaching half the speed of sound, the car can maintain absolute control, ensuring no wheel slip or loss of traction. Working in harmony with the drivetrain is the DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System. This isn’t just active suspension; it’s predictive and hyper-responsive. It makes rapid, independent vertical adjustments to the suspension at each corner to suppress pitch and roll during acceleration and cornering. This not only keeps the driver comfortable but actively pushes the tyres into the road to maximise the contact patch and, therefore, grip.
The record-breaking car also featured an enhanced, optional carbon-fibre front splitter and rode on bespoke, track-focused semi-slick tyres developed in collaboration with Giti Tire to handle the extreme forces.
More Than Just a Number
This record is a massive statement of intent from BYD and its premium YANGWANG arm. While many know BYD for its increasingly popular passenger EVs in Australia and New Zealand, like the ATTO 3, DOLPHIN, and SEAL, the U9 proves their technical prowess extends to the most extreme ends of automotive performance. Unlike traditional supercars, the YANGWANG U9 uses its innovative “e⁴ Platform + DiSus-X” architecture to introduce a new level of “body posture control” to the track, exploring the absolute limits of safety and performance.
By setting this new benchmark, YANGWANG isn’t just winning a numbers game; it’s redefining what a sustainable supercar can be, backed by BYD’s commitment to leveraging technological innovation for a better, and in this case, much faster, life.
