YANGWANG U9 Xtreme breaks 500 km/h barrier and raises the bar for electric hypercars
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The YANGWANG U9 Xtreme reached 503.17 km/h in Abu Dhabi, improving its previous top speed by 6.95 km/h. With four electric motors and a combined output of around 2,220 kW, the hypercar shows that at such speeds, tyres, suspension and precise thermal management matter just as much as power.
Seven kilometres of straight road and four attempts
Marc Basseng set the new top speed on 1 November 2026 on the E11 highway in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region. According to the announcement, the result earned the car and its Giti tyres four Guinness World Records: fastest production car, fastest electric production car, fastest electric car tyre and fastest road car tyre.
The organisers were able to close a ten-kilometre section of road, with its longest straight extending for seven kilometres. Before the runs, the team cleaned the road surface and then inspected the entire route to pick up any wire fragments that might have been left by the cleaning brushes.
Two attempts on 31 October produced a maximum speed of 490 km/h. Overnight, engineers refined battery and motor thermal conditioning, changed the rear wing angle, increased suspension rebound damping and adjusted tyre pressures. The second run the following day took the speed to 503.17 km/h. The key issue was therefore not simply adding power, but consistently transferring the car’s existing capability to the road.
Top speed of 503.17 km/h, up 6.95 km/h from the previous result of 496.22 km/h.
Four electric motors, each producing 555 kW; combined output of around 2,220 kW and a maximum rotational speed of 30,000 rpm.
A 1,200-volt electrical system and an LFP Blade battery with a discharge rate of up to 30C.
Battery output of 1,800 kW at a 20% state of charge; peak regenerative braking power of more than 700 kW.
Planned production of 30 cars; the source does not specify European pricing or availability.
Four motors and a 1,200-volt electrical system
Each wheel of the U9 Xtreme has its own electric motor, with a maximum rotational speed of 30,000 rpm. Each motor produces 555 kW, giving the four motors a combined output of around 2,220 kW. That is more than double the standard U9’s approximately 947 kW.
The electrical system’s voltage has risen from 800 to 1,200 volts, and the system supports currents of up to 1,000 amps. Higher voltage helps reduce the current required for the same power output and simplifies thermal management. The manufacturer reports up to 67% less heat dissipation at the same output compared with an 800-volt system.
The LFP Blade battery supports a discharge rate of up to 30C. In theory, this corresponds to releasing its entire charge in two minutes, not to the car’s range or charging time. Even at a 20% state of charge, the battery can deliver 1,800 kW; peak regenerative braking power exceeds 700 kW.
The whole car works to keep top speed under control
The e4 platform’s control system adjusts torque at each wheel more than a hundred times per second. The DiSus-X active suspension, in turn, controls each wheel’s vertical movement to reduce body roll, squat under acceleration and dive under braking.
Giti developed track-focused semi-slick tyres for the car. A special treatment at the tyre-to-rim interface helps limit movement between them under hard acceleration and braking. At speeds above 500 km/h, tyre behaviour is not a minor detail but one of the factors that determines the outcome of the entire attempt.
European links stretch from Papenburg to the Nordschleife
The U9 Xtreme set its previous top speed of 496.22 km/h at Germany’s ATP Papenburg test track in September 2025. The new result exceeds that by approximately 1.4%. A car with the same technical specification has recorded a Nordschleife lap time of 6 minutes and 59.157 seconds, which the press material describes as the lap record for electric production cars.
These two results reveal the car’s ambitions more clearly than its power figure alone: straight-line speed demands low aerodynamic drag, while circuit driving also requires grip and precise body control. For European buyers, however, important information remains unavailable. The material does not specify European availability, pricing or type approval.
YANGWANG will limit total U9 Xtreme production to 30 cars. Some customers have already confirmed their individual specifications and are moving towards signing contracts and agreeing production schedules.
