Yangwang U9 Smashes World Speed Record for Electric Cars at 472 km/h
Chinese luxury brand Yangwang, part of BYD, has announced that its U9 Track Edition has set a new official top speed record for electric vehicles: 472.41 km/h. The run took place on August 8, 2025, at the Papenburg test track in Germany. The previous benchmark was held by the same brand, but the bar has now been pushed dramatically higher.
As always with such announcements, the numbers carry a message. The U9 is powered by four electric motors, each rated at 555 kW, delivering a combined output of more than 2200 kW – or roughly 3000 horsepower. BYD highlights its 1200-volt architecture, advanced thermal management and a chassis that can reportedly adjust the car’s stance hundreds of times per second. On paper it reads less like a production vehicle and more like a rolling engineering laboratory at the edge of physics.
The record run was handled by German driver Marc Basseng, who also held the previous mark. What was once thought of as a natural ceiling now looks more like a PR department’s checkpoint. And that raises the inevitable question: beyond headlines and record books, what does a figure like 472 km/h really mean? It is breathtaking, certainly, but outside of test tracks it is irrelevant. Even sustaining 250 km/h would quickly exhaust the car’s battery reserves.
Yet the U9 is also a statement of ambition. Traditional sports car brands have long sold emotion, mystique and heritage. Yangwang, by contrast, couches its story in engineering achievement and Guinness-worthy numbers. It is a different narrative, one rooted in proving capability rather than cultivating romance.
Whether the U9 becomes a genuine supercar in the eyes of customers, or remains a technological showpiece for collectors, will depend on whether BYD can sustain it as more than a halo project. For now, one thing is clear: through Yangwang, China is intent on showing the world it can build machines that command respect not just in the showroom, but on the record books of speed itself.
