The Yangwang U9 Xtreme has set a lap record for electric super sports cars at Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, completing the 20.832km track in 6 minutes 59.157 seconds.
The time represents the first sub-seven-minute lap by an electric super sports car at the circuit and improves on the previous record by more than five seconds. The vehicle is produced by Yangwang, a luxury brand under Chinese manufacturer BYD.
German racing driver Moritz Kranz, who has completed nearly 10,000 laps of the Nordschleife during his GT racing career, drove the record lap. “The Nürburgring Nordschleife is the most demanding track, and our lap time is a testament to the development skills of BYD and Yangwang,” Kranz said. “Without their intense work to balance a high-powered EV platform with the difficult demands of the chassis set-up, this great lap time would not have been possible.”
Yangwang’s engineering team has been testing at the circuit since July 2024, with track data feeding into the U9 Xtreme’s development.
The vehicle uses four electric motors, each capable of 30,000rpm, producing a combined output exceeding 3,000PS. Built on what the company describes as a 1200V platform, the car has a power-to-weight ratio of 1,217PS per tonne.
For the Nürburgring attempt, the U9 Xtreme featured a redesigned cooling system, a titanium-alloy carbon-ceramic braking system, and semi-slick tyres developed with Giti. The vehicle uses the same e⁴ Platform and DiSus-X body-control system as the standard Yangwang U9.
BYD Executive Vice President Stella Li said the Nürburgring represented a significant challenge. “I congratulate the entire team on this phenomenal achievement,” Li said. “The limited-edition U9 Xtreme has proven that it is not only the world’s fastest car in a straight line, but also a vehicle with the performance and dynamic qualities necessary to break lap records on a circuit with a wide variety of corners.”
Last month, the U9 Xtreme recorded a top speed of 496.22km/h at ATP Papenburg in Germany.
Yangwang is producing no more than 30 units of the U9 Xtreme, which is now available to customers. The company has not disclosed pricing for the limited production run.
