Yangwang U9 Xtreme hits 503.17 km/h, FIA recognises first production car past 500

Key facts

• What: Yangwang U9 Xtreme one-way high-speed run
• Speed: 503.17 km/h (~312.7 mph), first production car past 500 km/h
• Where: Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road (E11), Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Region
• When: run on November 1, 2026; FIA recognition posted November 6, 2026
• Driver: Marc Basseng
• Powertrain (FIA): four independent motors, more than 3,000 PS, 1,200-volt architecture, Giti tyres
• Limit: secondary reporting says production limited to 30 units globally
• Two-way production-car mark: still SSC Tuatara at 455.3 km/h (January 2021)

503.17 km/h is a hard number to picture. About 312.7 mph. On a stretch of highway that, on a normal day, carries ordinary traffic.

BYD’s luxury brand Yangwang put Marc Basseng in the U9 Xtreme on a closed section of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed International Road, the E11, in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Region. On November 6 the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile recognised the speed. The FIA’s own write-up calls the car the first production car to clear 500 km/h.

https://x.com/fia/status/2118634394004979827

Post: FIA (@fia) on X.

One way, not two

The titles sit on a single-direction run. FIA and Guinness both say so. Yangwang did not publish a two-way average that cancels wind and gradient.

The recognised two-way production-car mark stays with the SSC Tuatara at 455.3 km/h from January 2021. That is how evo and Motor1 frame it. Abu Dhabi is still a first past 500 km/h for a production car. It is not the same measurement as a two-way average.

https://x.com/BYDCompany/status/2118619303134249115

Post: BYD (@BYDCompany) on X.

How they got there

Local authorities closed a 10 km section, the FIA says, with a seven-kilometre straight inside it. Two runs on October 31 peaked at 490 km/h. Overnight, engineers changed aero, suspension and tyre pressures. On November 1 the second of two further runs hit 503.17 km/h.

Basseng had already driven the car’s 496.22 km/h run at ATP Papenburg in Germany in September 2025. The FIA lists the climb: 472.41 km/h in August 2025, then Papenburg, then another 6.95 km/h in Abu Dhabi.

What is under the skin

The FIA brief lists four independent electric motors with a combined output of more than 3,000 PS, a 1,200-volt electrical architecture, torque vectoring, active suspension, and high-performance tyres developed with Giti Tire.

CnEVPost, in reporting that dates to the model’s unveil and was repeated on the record day, says the U9 Xtreme is limited to 30 units globally. The FIA note does not restate that cap.

Video: "YANGWANG U9 Xtreme rompe el récord de velocidad", BYD Auto México on YouTube.

Desert road, not a test track

Abu Dhabi’s media office called the attempt a regional milestone on that highway. The FIA says the road was closed with local authorities. That is a different setting from Papenburg’s proving ground.

For anyone watching the EV hypercar race, the takeaway is narrow. One way. FIA-recognised 503.17 km/h. First production car past 500. The two-way production-car mark still sits with the Tuatara.

Editorial only, not financial advice.

Top photo: Illustrative image. A Yangwang U9 showcar at Essen Motor Show 2024, not the Abu Dhabi Xtreme record car. Matti Blume via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.