Highlights
- Top speed of 503.17 km/h (312.66 mph), up from 496.22 km/h
- FIA recognises the run; two Guinness World Records earned
- Only 30 units will be built, priced at over 20 million yuan
BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme has become the first production car to cross 500 km/h. It reached 503.17 km/h on 1 November 2026 on Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road (E11), and the FIA announced the result on Friday, 6 November. The run beats the car’s own earlier mark of 496.22 km/h, set at Germany’s ATP Papenburg proving ground in September 2025.
German driver Marc Basseng was behind the wheel again. Authorities closed 10 km of the E11 in the Al Dhafra region, and the runs used a 7 km straight. The team made four runs over two days. The first two, on 31 October, peaked at around 490 km/h. Engineers then changed the aerodynamics, suspension settings and tyre pressures, and the second run on 1 November produced the record. At that speed the car covers a kilometre in just over seven seconds. Unlike a test track, the road meant dealing with heat, crosswinds and desert dust. Basseng said that doing it again in such a different environment is “truly special”.
The run earned two Guinness World Records, for the fastest production car and the fastest electric production car. Both are single-direction records. The Bugatti Chiron’s 490.48 km/h is still cited as the official two-way production-car benchmark.
| Spec | Yangwang U9 Xtreme |
|---|---|
| Motors | Four, 555 kW each |
| Combined output | 2,220 kW (over 3,000 PS) |
| Electrical architecture | 1,200 V |
| Battery | BYD Blade Battery, 30C discharge |
| Kerb weight | 2,480 kg |
| Nürburgring Nordschleife | 6:59.157 (production EV lap record) |
The car also gets DiSus-X active suspension and semi-slick tyres developed with Giti Tire. Only 30 units will be built globally. The production version was unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2026 at over 20 million yuan (around $2.98 million). Australia is due to get one, for businessman Nick Politis.
The E11 has a 160 km/h limit, and in normal circumstances exceeding it by more than 80 km/h brings a Dh3,000 fine, 23 black points and 60 days’ impoundment. This run was officially coordinated. None of the reports say whether BYD plans a two-way run next.
