BYD reveals U9 Xtreme, 496 km/h top speed

BYD’s Yangwang brand used the Beijing Auto Show to put its U9 Xtreme electric hypercar in front of the public on April 25. (carnewschina.com) Yangwang presented the car as a special edition of the existing U9, with sales limited to 30 units and a black-and-gold exterior treatment. Pricing was not announced at the show. (carnewschina.com) The headline number came before Beijing. Yangwang says the U9 Xtreme hit a verified 496.22 km/h at ATP Automotive Testing Papenburg in Germany on September 14, 2025. (yangwangauto.com) (byd.com) BYD also says the car lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:59.157, giving the Beijing debut a second performance claim beyond straight-line speed. (yangwangauto.com) (byd.com) Under the body, Yangwang says the U9 Xtreme moves from the regular U9’s 800-volt system to a 1,200-volt architecture. The company says it uses four motors spinning up to 30,000 rpm and produces more than 3,000 metric horsepower. (byd.com) The company also says the car uses a lithium iron phosphate Blade Battery with a 30C discharge rate, semi-slick tires, and a revised DiSus-X suspension setup for track driving. In plain terms, that is a battery and chassis tuned to dump power quickly and keep the body stable at very high speed. (byd.com) (yangwangauto.com) Auto China 2026 opened on April 24 and runs through May 3 in Beijing. Organizers say the show spans two venues, with April 24-25 reserved for media and April 26-27 for trade visitors. (autobeijing.org.cn) (autoshow.org.cn) That schedule helps explain the timing: Yangwang brought the U9 Xtreme to market-facing press days as BYD also showed the U8L, another flagship model under its premium sub-brand. (carnewschina.com) The U9 Xtreme is not a clean-sheet Beijing surprise so much as the public show debut of a car Yangwang had already named and promoted after its September 2025 test run. BYD’s own materials say customer availability is capped at no more than 30 cars. (byd.com) (yangwangauto.com) For BYD, the point in Beijing was simple: put a record-claiming electric hypercar on the stand while the world’s biggest auto show is open. The company used one of the industry’s largest stages to argue that Chinese electric-car makers can sell both family vehicles and 496.22 km/h halo machines. (autobeijing.org.cn) (apnews.com)