A Chinese EV Has Dethroned Bugatti To Become The World’s Fastest Production Car

Six years after the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ broke the 300 mph barrier and the record for the fastest production car, a new speed king has been crowned. A pure EV from China dubbed the YangWang U9X Xtreme took to Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg track to hit a maddeningly quick top speed of 308.4 mph, usurping the Bugatti’s 304.8 mph.

In the Chiron’s speediest spec, its 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged W16 cranked out 1,578 horsepower. That sounds like—and objectively is—a ridiculous figure, until the U9 Xtreme’s powertrain is considered. According to Car and Driver, a 1,200-volt system features a motor per wheel, each producing a peak 744 horsepower, adding up to a combined output of 2,959 horsepower.

The record-setting driver is Marc Basseng, a seasoned endurance race winner who previously set a production-car lap record at the Nürburgring with a Pagani Zonda F in 2007. “This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme simply has incredible performance,” Basseng said. “Technically, something like this is not possible with a combustion engine. Thanks to the electric motor, the car is quiet, there are no load changes, and that allows me to focus even more on the track.”

The YangWang U9 Extreme is a more specialized version of the standard U9, a hypercar currently available in China with a 1,287-hp quad-motor configuration that’s good for a 60 mph time of 2.3 seconds. While a foreign nameplate in the states, YangWang is a luxury brand under the umbrella of BYD, which has just surpassed Tesla in European EV sales for the second consecutive month. BYD has a vehicle that competes with just about other body style of EV on the global market, including the Volkswagen ID.3-rvialing BYD Dolphin, the Tesla Model 3-rivaling BYD Seal sedan, and even the BYD Shark, a plug-in hybrid pickup truck.

The U9 Xtreme is sure to be among the rarest of Chinese EV behemoth’s offerings, with production limited to just 30 examples. Unfortunately, no BYD products are currently sold in the U.S.