Automotive

Electric Lightning: BYD's Yangwang U9 Xtreme is the world's fastest production car

Frig

29 Sep 2025 — 1 min read

Photo by BYD

Electric Lightning: Yangwang U9 Xtreme Becomes the World’s Fastest Production Car

For decades, speed records belonged to gas-guzzling supercars with names like Bugatti and Koenigsegg. But in September 2025, the rules changed. BYD’s luxury sub-brand Yangwang stunned the automotive world by pushing its U9 Xtreme to a mind-bending 496.22 km/h (308.4 mph) — making it the fastest production car in history.

The feat happened on Germany’s ATP Papenburg track, with pro driver Marc Basseng at the wheel. The U9 Xtreme isn’t just a tweaked sports car — it’s a tech statement on wheels. It runs on a 1,200-volt system, packs four motors spinning up to 30,000 rpm, and uses BYD’s advanced Blade Battery tech. Only 30 units will ever be built, but the achievement firmly plants electric vehicles at the top of the performance pyramid.

Why this matters

EVs just took the crown. For years, skeptics said electric cars could never match the raw, top-end performance of combustion engines. The U9 Xtreme just proved otherwise.
Engineering breakthroughs. High-voltage systems, extreme cooling, and tire tech from this project will likely trickle down into more mainstream EVs in the future.
A global shift. A Chinese automaker now holds the ultimate speed record — a symbolic shift in an industry long dominated by European supercar legends.

What record did it beat?

The last production-car speed record stood unchallenged since 2019, when the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ hit 490.48 km/h (304.77 mph). For six years, Bugatti’s run was the holy grail of automotive bragging rights. Now, the U9 Xtreme has pushed past it — and into a new era where electric power isn’t just greener, it’s faster.

The takeaway: This isn’t just about bragging rights on the Autobahn. It’s proof that electric hypercars are no longer experiments — they’re leading the charge, literally and figuratively. The Yangwang U9 Xtreme is more than a car; it’s a turning point in how we think about speed, power, and the future of performance.

Xbox Game Pass was the best deal in gaming - until now

For years, Xbox Game Pass has been the darling of the gaming world—a “Netflix for games” that let players dip into hundreds of titles for one flat fee. But Microsoft’s latest move? A massive price hike that has gamers fuming, canceling subscriptions in droves, and questioning whether Game

French navy detains Russia-linked oil tanker suspected in Denmark drone incidents

The high seas just served up a thriller. French naval forces have boarded an oil tanker called Boracay, a ship with more aliases than a spy novel and a spot on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” list. Why the sudden attention? Investigators think it may have played a role in

The Great Disconnect: How Wall Street Left Main Street Behind

The Stock Market Is Soaring. So Why Does Everyone Feel Poorer? The headlines are glowing. Stock indexes are up, corporate profits are strong, and financial commentators keep reminding us that markets are resilient. And yet, if you ask the average person how they feel about their own financial situation, the

Local AI just got real

Why running models with LMStudio feels like magic. Do you remember when AI was some mysterious cloud service locked away in huge data centers? The playing field has changed. With LMStudio, high-performance AI models can now be run locally—on your own computer, to be precise. And the best part?