China’s giant BYD has announced on Tuesday that the U9X supercar of its sub-brand Yangwang has just beaten another performance record, this time in the iconic Nürburgring racetrack.
The fully electric performance car completed the lap in 6 minutes, 59.157 seconds, dethroning the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra by about five seconds.
Xiaomi‘s model had completed the circuit in 7 minutes and 4.957 seconds on June 11.
On social media, BYD said the achievement is “the the result of vision, precision, and the determination to redefine what electric performance can be.”
“From the first prototype to the final corner, the U9X proves that the future of speed has already arrived,” they added.
A few weeks ago, the U9 Xtreme had reached a top speed of 496.22 km/h (308.34 mph) at Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP) track, becoming the fastest production car to date.
The U9X delivers 2,978 brake horsepower from four electric motors, about 130% more than the 1,288bhp of the standard version.
It is also the first production vehicle to feature a 1,200-volt ultra high-voltage platform.
Each motor delivers up to 555 kW, giving the supercar a combined output of more than 3,000 PS and a power-to-weight ratio of 1,217 PS per tonne.
The standard U9, priced at 1.68 million yuan ($236,000), is equipped with four 240 kW electric motors producing a combined output of 960 kW.
In July, BYD announced that the Yangwang brand will be expanding to Europe, becoming the first Chinese automaker to enter the top-tier luxury segment in the continent.
Yangwang debuted two years ago in China, competing directly with brands like Ferrari and Porsche — as the latter’s sales figures keep weakening month per month in the market.
According to Executive VP Stella Li, BYD‘s other sub-brand Denza will be available in the Old Continent “early next year.”
However, the launch timeline for Yangwang in Europe remains unclear.
Recently, several electric models have been seen at the Nürburgring.
On Tuesday, the hybrid version of the XPeng X9 was spotted undergoing tests on the German track — marking the first time a Chinese multi-purpose van with a new-energy powertrain has undergone performance validation there.
The new iteration is set to be launched until the end of October.
Earlier this year, Tesla‘s Model Y Performance was also seen at the Nürburgring. The model, first launched in Europe and recently expanded to the US, has a power output of 460 hp.
The model claims a 3.3-second 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) acceleration and reaches a top speed of 155 mph (249.45 km/h).
