472 km/h: Byd humiliates Tesla and signs a new world record for electric
Rear view of the Yangwang U9 on the circuit. This Chinese electric hypercar, with 1,288 horsepower in its commercial version, recently reached 472.41 km/h in a prototype version tested in Germany. A demonstration of force signed byd, already approved and partially marketed in China. © Byd
In the collective imagination, the electric car is too often confined to a wise, almost annoying vehicle role. But The now famous Yangwang U9 from byd has just sprayed this shot at more than 472 km/h, signing a new world speed record for an electric vehicle. However, this car is neither a salon prototype, nor an isolated com ‘: it is on sale, approved, and is a laboratory rolling for the models of tomorrow.
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472.41 km/h: the Yangwang U9 by byd becomes the fastest electric car in the world
On August 8, on the German test track ATP Papenburg, a German professional pilot, Marc Basseng, brought byd into history. On board an engineering prototype from Yangwang U9, he reached the vertiginous speed of 472.41 km/h, breaking the previous world record of the VE.
This extreme version of the U9 is equipped with four electric motors, each developing 555 kW (more than 3,000 cumulative horses). Associated with a 1,200 volts platform (the first in the world in production) and with a thermal management system optimized for extreme conditions, the car displays a weight/record power ratio of 1,217 PS/ton. An engineering feat.
But it is not just a demonstrator. The Yangwang U9 has been officially marketed in China since February 25, 2024, at the rate of 1.68 million yuan (around 234,000 dollars). In July, six units were delivered, bringing the total to 173 vehicles in circulation. A confidential dissemination, certainly, but very real.
The “serial” model already displays mind -blowing performances: 960 kW of combined power, 1,288 horsepower, 0 to 100 km/h in 2.36 seconds, and a top speed of 391.94 km/h reached at the end of 2024. The prototype, it, further pushes the limits: same platform, but power doubled on each engine.
And that’s not all: in a recent video, Byd even rolled the U9 in autonomous mode on a closed circuit, at night, thanks to His “God’s Eye” system for intelligent driving. The demonstration is clear: Byd is not only trying to impress, but to permanently change the image of the electric.
A prototype flirts with the 500 km/h whileA million smart cars come out of the channels in five months… Two sides of the same strategy: Byd pushes the limits of technology, while integrating it on a large scale. What is played out today in China is not a simple speed record, but an industrial tilting which, sooner or later, will be exported.
