A BYD hypercar became a record-breaker at the Nürburgring (4 photos + 1 video)
The Chinese automaker BYD announced that the battery-powered U9 Xtreme hypercar has officially joined the list of the world's fastest cars. The coupe lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6 minutes and 59.157 seconds. This effectively took the title of fastest production electric car on the planet from the Xiaomi SU7. 
The Yangwang coupe beat the Xiaomi sedan by approximately 6 seconds. The hypercar was piloted by German racing driver Maurice Kranz, known for his extensive experience driving cars on the Nordschleife.
The Yangwang U9 Xtreme (U9X) is equipped with four electric motors, each capable of spinning up to 30,000 rpm. Together, they produce 3,019 horsepower. According to official figures, the BYD U9X can reach 60 mph in 2.36 seconds and a quarter-mile in 9.78 seconds. It has a range of 450 kilometers.
The coupe is considered a production car, although, unlike the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, which is a truly mass-produced sedan, production of the hypercar will not exceed 30 units. These electric vehicles are planned to sell for 1.8 million yuan.
In September, BYD announced that the U9 Xtreme should also be considered the fastest production car, as it reached a speed of 496.22 km/h at the Papenburg Circuit. Remarkably, the developers calculate that the U9X could be even faster—theoretically, the coupe is capable of exceeding 500 km/h.
