Watch: Chinese EV smashes Guinness World speed records, hits 312.7 mph in historic attempt

BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme has officially broken the Guinness World Records speed record for production cars at 312.7 miles per hour (503.17 kilometers per hour). Achieved on an open-road challenge in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), on November 1, this is a real historic milestone for the company and the car.

“Exceeding 500 km/h marks a significant engineering milestone for a production EV and highlights the vehicle’s high-performance capabilities,” Guinness World Recordsexplains on its official page. At that speed, the car would be able to travel the length of an average football field in about 0.75 seconds.

The record attempt was conducted on a closed test section of the E11 motorway in Abu Dhabi. Driven by Marc Basseng, he explained in a BYD press release that the record attempt pushed “the limits of speed on a public road in Abu Dhabi.”

“Unlike a dedicated test track, a public road presents a different set of challenges, making precision, stability and confidence in the vehicle more important than ever. Breaking a world record once is extraordinary, but doing it again in such a different environment is truly special,” he explained.

U9 Xtreme the record-breaker

According to reports, engineers were required to adjust aerodynamics, suspension, and tire pressures during testing. Overall, the team made four runs over two days, setting the record on the final attempt.

This was vital as air resistance increases approximately with the square of speed. At the same time, the power needed to overcome that drag increases with the cube of speed. So, achieving this record was not just about more power; it required special tires and other tuning to be successful.

At this speed, it broke its previous record of 308 mph (496.22 kph), set during the ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg test track in Germany last September.

As an interesting aside, the U9 Xtreme has also delivered a lap time of 6:59.157 at Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife.

If you’re not aware, the U9 Xtreme is a 1,200-volt electric hypercar powered by four motors capable of spinning at 30,000 rpm. Together, they deliver around 2,977 horsepower (2,220 kW).

As for its production status, this is where things get a little murky. According to BYD, they intend to produce a limited run of 30 units of the U9 Xtreme. That would technically make it a limited-production hypercar, rather than a mass-produced road vehicle, per se.

A genuine achievement

As for the Guinness World Record, it is also important to note that it is for a “single-direction production-car” attempt. This matters as most speed comparisons tend to be over two runs in opposite directions.

This partly eliminates the influence of environmental factors like wind and road gradients. That said, this is genuinely a remarkable achievement, and one BYD is rightly very proud of.

“I always tell people that our engineers are young, bold and maybe a little crazy – but in a good way! And again, we must congratulate them and the whole YANGWANG U9X team for an incredible next step and these astonishing records,” BYD Executive Vice-President Stella Li said in the press release.

“Even as the team celebrated the astonishing 496.22km/h in Germany last year, they were looking through the data and discussing how to take U9X to its next level. 503.17km/h is a fantastic achievement, and it moves the benchmark for pure electric power even further ahead of where others might dream,” she added.