The BYD Yangwang U9 Xtreme has become the first production car to exceed 500 km/h, setting a Guinness World Record speed of 503.17 km/h (312.65 mph) on a closed section of motorway in Abu Dhabi. The run took place on 1 November 2026, and Guinness confirmed the record on 6 November 2026.
German racing driver Marc Basseng was at the wheel for the attempt on a specially secured section of the E11 motorway, the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road, in the Al Dhafra region. The car ran on purpose-developed GitiSport e.GTR2 Pro tyres, which earned their own Guinness title for the highest speed achieved by electric vehicle tyres.
Beating its own benchmark
The 503.17 km/h run improved on the U9 Xtreme’s previous benchmark of 496.22 km/h, set at the ATP Papenburg proving ground in Germany in September 2025. The increase was 6.95 km/h, or about 1.4 percent. Guinness recognised separate titles for the highest speed achieved by a production car in a single-direction run and the highest speed achieved by an electric production car in a single-direction run.
Verification involved a calibrated VBOX measuring system alongside the car’s speedometer, with a representative of motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, reviewing the data and supplying written confirmation. The FIA has also recognised the achievement.
A limited run of 30 cars
BYD says it intends to build a limited run of just 30 examples of the U9 Xtreme worldwide. The four-motor hypercar is rated at 3,019 horsepower, according to CompleteCar.ie. Engineers made overnight adjustments to the wing angle, suspension software and tyre pressures before the second November run delivered the milestone speed.
Guinness described exceeding 500 km/h as a significant engineering milestone for a production electric vehicle. The record is for a single-direction run, not an average of two runs in opposite directions, which is an important distinction in speed-record reporting. The achievement also underlines how quickly electric hypercars have closed the gap on petrol-powered speed machines, and how much of the work now sits in tyres, software and aerodynamics rather than engine size alone. For BYD’s Yangwang brand, the Abu Dhabi run was a public demonstration as much as a record attempt, staged in front of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, where the Guinness certificate was presented on 6 November 2026.
