Think you need a Bugatti Chiron to achieve over 450km/h? Think again, as you can now get up that high with an electric car.
Not just any electric car, I assume?
Quite right, this is a bit of a special one. YangWang is the super-luxury sub-brand of BYD. It makes the massive quad-motor U8 SUV that can tank-turn on the spot, and which is even rated to amphibiously float should you hit flood water.
YangWang also makes the remarkable U9 all-electric hypercar, which normally comes with a 1,287hp quad-motor setup, with an individual electric motor driving each wheel. However, YangWang clearly felt that wasn't even half enough, and so set about tweaking and tuning the U9's electric setup, to create this, the U9 Track Edition.
Is it a bit more powerful?
A bit, yes. Like quite a bit. Like more than double the power of the standard U9, with an incredible 3,018hp in total from its four electric motors. That's like taking a Lotus Evija - hardly a slow car - and adding an entire Bugatti Veyron to its power output.
Quick, then?
Just a touch, yes. YangWang has taken the U9 Track Edition to the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany, where on the August 8, it hit a truly remarkable 472.41km/h - a new record for an EV.
It's really not that far off the Bugatti Chiron's absolute production car top speed record of 490km/h. For those of you watching this in black and white, the U9 Track Edition was going at 292.89mph.
How has YangWang managed to do this?
It fitted the U9 Track Edition with powerful new motors, which spin at 30,000rpm, and which are powered by an 80kWh 'Blade' battery running on a 1,200-volt electrical system.
With 1,217hp per tonne specific output, the YangWang's motors are carefully monitored, and are capable of adjusting each wheel's torque at an ultra-high frequency that exceeds 100 times per second.
That's in a straight line, what about corners?
The YangWang U9 Track Edition's suspension is pretty sophisticated. It uses what the carmaker calls the DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System, which means it has electrically controlled suspension units, which are fully active, like an early 1990s F1 car, only way more sophisticated, pressing each corner of the car up and down to fully control pitch and roll.
That's taken from the standard road-going U9, but for the Track Edition, YangWang has fitted what it calls 'body posture control' which adapts the suspension from road use to track use.
There's also a bespoke carbon-fibre body kit, and equally bespoke tyres, developed by Singapore-based Giti Tyres, using a clever 'knurling' system and purpose-designed lubricant to prevent any slippage between the tyre and the wheel rim when performing very high-speed braking and acceleration.
Is there a point to all of this?
Well, aside from boasting points, YangWang says that it is actively “verifying the scientific design and technical reliability of the U9 under ultra-high-speed operating conditions.”
The record run was made by German professional driver Marc Basseng, who was behind the wheel for the previous global EV speed record in 2024. After completing the high-speed test for YangWang, he said: “Last year, I thought I'd peaked. 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.”
You can safely expect YangWang to come back and have a go at the Chiron's outright record, but no word on the brand being launched on the rather more sedate Irish market any time soon.