The BYD YangWang U9 was the talk of the town (nay, world) when it was first unveiled in China last year, particularly thanks to a viral video that showed the car – get this – jumping. But it’s more than just the cool little party trick that made the U9 stand out. It’s also got proper hypercar specs, like 1,300 hp and 1,680 Nm from four motors, 0-100 km/h in 2.36 seconds, and as we’re about to learn, a top speed that’s even higher than what BYD wrote in its spec sheet.
Officially, BYD says that the YangWang U9 can reach a VMax of 309.19 km/h. But in a recent video published on the company’s Weibo account, the fully electric hypercar reached a top speed of 375.12 km/h during a track test in China. It really is as crazy as it sounds – watch the full video here.
That, if you still haven’t wrapped your brain around, is nearly 66 km/h faster than its top speed on paper. And the craziest part? BYD says that it can actually go even faster, if the conditions (and track length) is ideal. Even for ICE hypercars, how many of them can break 300 km/h?
YangWang is a new sub-brand under the BYD umbrella, focusing on higher-end vehicles. The brand launched with the U8 SUV and U9 hypercar earlier last year, and one of the brand’s most unique selling point is its e4 individual drive system, that uses one motor on each wheel. On the U8, the e4 system in addition to its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, gives the massive SUV upwards of 1,100 hp in output, and also enables unique features like tank turn.
The BYD YangWang U9, meanwhile, is a fully-electric hypercar with – as you guessed – four individual motors. There’s also the DiSus suspension system that lets it drive on three wheels (and jump), an 80 kWh Blade battery pack that gives it a driving range of up to 450 km (CLTC cycle), 500 kW DC fast charging support, and an interior that has definitely taken a few inspirations from McLaren and Ferrari…
RELATED: BYD Yangwang U9 launched in China – approx. RM1.1m, 0-100km/h in 2.36 secs
