World’s fastest car crashes during high-speed run
An example of BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme has suffered a serious crash while completing high-speed passes in China, with its driver lucky to walk away uninjured.
BYD already holds the unofficial record for the world’s fastest production car in the Yangwang U9 Xtreme, but a reported attempt to go even faster destroyed the electric supercar.
Posted to BYD’s Weibo account – and subsequently uploaded to YouTube by CarNewsChina – the U9 Xtreme was undertaking high-speed runs in China when the driver lost control on approach to the test track’s banked turn.
The loss of control led to the Yangwang slamming into the barriers, ripping away its rear subframe, and causing significant damage to its front end, while its driver’s side door was also torn off as a result of the impact.
Despite the violent nature of the crash, the driver emerged without major injury, though the same couldn’t be said for the car which is almost guaranteed to be a write-off.
While there have been reports BYD was pursuing a 500km/h-plus top speed during the runs, the carmaker’s video shows the crash occurred during a 420-450km/h evaluation run.
Presently the U9 Xtreme’s official top speed is 496.22km/h in a single direction, enough to beat the official two-way record of 490.48km/h, set by the Bugatti Chiron.
The Yangwang U9 Xtreme is powered by four 555kW electric motors, producing a total of 2220kW, enough to overcome its hefty kerb weight of 2480kg.
On its record run, the U9 Xtreme was able to accelerate from 300km/h to 400km/h in approximately 10 seconds, while it appeared to become slightly unstable as it approached its peak speed.
Only 30 examples are being built for global customers, and just one U9 Xtreme is coming to Australia, with BYD confirming business magnate and Sydney Roosters chairman Nick Politis is set to be the sole Down Under owner.
Though it would be easy for BYD to rest on its laurels, executive vice president Stella Li announced last week that the U9 Xtreme will be sent for a 500km/h run later this month.
The planned record run will take place in Dubai, where BYD is hoping to secure a 15km-long road with help from local police.
