BYD-owned Yangwang has announced that its U9 Track Edition has set a new top speed record for an electric vehicle. The Yangwang U9 Track Edition accomplished the record speed of 472.41kph at the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg track in Germany on August 8.
- Yangwang U9 Track Edition has a claimed combined output of over 3,000hp
- New track-focused tyres are among the changes from the standard U9
Yangwang U9 Track Edition details
U9 Track Edition features a few performance and design upgrades over the standard EV
While most of the Yangwang U9 Track Edition remains identical to the standard EV, BYD’s high-end performance brand has tweaked the software on all four 30,000rpm motors (one at each wheel) to develop 555kW (about 755hp) each. Yangwang claims that the U9 Track Edition makes over 3,000hp of combined power and has a power-to-weight ratio of 1,217hp/tonne. For reference, the Koenigsegg One:1 was named as such due to a power-to-weight ratio of 1,000hp/tonne, or 1hp:1kg.
Other changes over the standard U9 EV include new track-focused semi-slick tyres made by Giti Tire, and a carbon-fibre front splitter, which is an optional extra on the stock model on sale in China.
Yangwang says that in every other way, the U9 Track Edition is the same as the standard EV, from the quad-motor’s independent torque-vectoring system to the DiSus-X ‘Intelligent Body Control System’, which is a sophisticated suspension setup that allows the EV to jump over potholes.
The previous record-holder for the world’s fastest EV was the Aspark OWL SP600 hypercar, which attained a top speed of 438.7kph at the same test track in Germany.
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