It’s official: the world’s fastest car no longer wears a Bugatti badge—it’s made in China, and it’s electric. BYD’s luxury arm, Yangwang, has stunned the automotive world with the U9 Xtreme, a hypercar that just clocked 496.22 km/h (308.34 mph) at Germany’s ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg track, edging past the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ and its 304.77 mph run in 2019. Yes, you read that right—BYD overpasses Bugatti.
What makes this jaw-dropper more than a one-off stunt is that it’s mass-produced tech, scaled for performance. The U9 Xtreme packs four electric motors producing a combined 2,978 hp, each capable of spinning up to 30,000 rpm thanks to the world’s thinnest super-silicon steel rotors (just 0.1 mm thick). Together, they power the 5,467-pound machine to speeds previously reserved for multimillion-dollar French exotics.
Then there’s the price tag. A Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ costs nearly $4 million. The regular Yangwang U9? About $270,000. Even if the Xtreme costs twice that, you’re still looking at one-eighth the price of a Bugatti for a car that’s actually faster. Oh, and BYD’s building 30 units—the exact same as Bugatti did with the Chiron SS 300+.
What this signals is that China’s EV industry has matured to the point where it can not only rival, but surpass, century-old luxury titans. Affordable EVs have put BYD on the map. Now, its hypercar division is showing the world just how far electric performance can go—and it’s only the beginning.
Cover Image via Yangwang Auto.
