BYD’s Yangwang just blew past Bugatti’s 304.773 mph mark, and it did it on a public highway. On November 1, a U9 Xtreme driven by Marc Basseng reached 503.17 km/h on Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road (E11), in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Region, according to BYD’s own release. That is 312.65 mph, or a little under 140 meters every second. byd
Guinness has certified it, but read the record title closely. Its record listing says these records relate specifically to peak speed in a single direction and should not be confused with conventional fastest-production-car records, which require different testing protocols, including runs in opposite directions. In plain terms, this was one run in one direction, with no return pass averaged in to cancel out wind or road gradient. BYD says the FIA also recognized the speed. guinnessworldrecords
How They Found the Last 13 km/h
The attempt didn’t start on the record. Two runs on 31 October reached a maximum of 490 km/h. The overnight fixes were unglamorous: the rear-wing angle was adjusted to increase rear-axle downforce, suspension software was reprofiled to increase rebound damping for road undulations, and tyre pressures were fine-tuned for high-speed stability. byd
The road prep is the most telling detail. Crews swept the highway and then checked every section for wire particles from cleaning brushes. At 140 m/s, a single bristle from the sweeper could puncture a semi-slick tire. A track like Papenburg is built for this kind of running. A desert highway with regular traffic isn’t. byd
Four motors, one at each corner, spin up to 30,000 rpm, each making 755PS (555kW). It runs on 1200V, up from 800V on the standard U9, and its LFP Blade battery is rated for a 30C discharge rate. The tire and wheel package gets a knurling treatment and high-viscosity lubricant at the wheel-rim interface to reduce slippage. With 555 kW going through each tire, the tire can rotate slightly on the rim. Even a small slip throws off the wheel’s balance, and at 500 km/h an unbalanced wheel can wreck the run or the car. BYD
Some physics: aerodynamic drag power rises with the cube of speed. Going from last year’s 496.22 km/h to 503.17 km/h is a 1.4% gain in speed, but it takes roughly 4.3% more power just to overcome the air. That is why the gains at this level come in single digits.
The Crash Before the Record
In the days between the record run and the official announcement, Yangwang released a teaser video showing a U9 Xtreme destroyed in a crash during high-speed testing in China. The car hit the guardrails on both sides of the road. The carbon passenger cell stayed intact and the driver was reported unhurt.
Releasing that footage was a calculated risk. It shows the safety cell did its job. It also shows how quickly a car this fast can get away from even an experienced driver. Basseng’s comment on Abu Dhabi fits the same theme: “Unlike a dedicated test track, a public road presents a different set of challenges”. byd
For the 30 units worldwide BYD plans to build, the crash raises practical questions for owners: byd
- Repairs: Fixing a damaged car means carbon structure work on a 1200V platform. Few shops anywhere are equipped for either, let alone both.
- Parts and insurance: Parts supply for a 30-car run depends on BYD’s long-term commitment. Insurers will price that uncertainty in, and an owner will want an agreed-value policy, not one based on market value, since there’s almost no market to compare against.
- First responders: After a crash, firefighters need a way to safely shut down a high-voltage system they have probably never seen.
Putting the Record in Context
To be fair, the record BYD beat had its own caveats. Bugatti’s 2019 Chiron run of 490.484 km/h (304.773 mph) was also made by a pre-production vehicle of a Chiron derivative. As Bugatti’s own release notes, the record run was recorded by a sealed GPS box, the certificate was issued by SGS-TÜV Saar. Nobody has set a clean, two-way-averaged production-car record anywhere near these speeds. The headline numbers are all one-way runs, and they will stay that way until someone finds a long enough straight to run both directions safely. bugatti breaks the 300 mph barrier
Look at the climb. Per BYD, it went from 309 km/h at Wuhan Hannan Airport in January 2024 to 391.94 km/h at ATP Papenburg in October 2024, then 472.41 km/h in August 2025 and 496.22 km/h in September 2025. That is nearly 200 km/h added in under three years. byd
Nobody is buying one of these for the commute. BYD is selling proof that it can build motors, batteries and control software that survive 500 km/h, and the U9 Xtreme just happens to come with the record. Whether any of that reaches a car you can afford is BYD’s to prove.
One run, one direction, an open highway and a Guinness certificate. Does that count as a speed record to you, or only a two-way average?
About the Author
