BYD’s Yangwang U9 Xtreme Sets New Top Speed & Nürburgring Lap Records – CleanTechnica

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Over the weekend, BYD announced on a RedNote livestream that the U9 Xtreme version has now broken the overall production car top speed record, clocking in at 496.22 km/h (308.37 mph). The car had just set the EV top speed record of 472.41 km/h a few weeks ago. In addition, in its first test at the Nürburgring, it set the EV lap record at 6:59.157. BYD also implied that the top speed was limited by the 500 km/h-rated tires, as the car was still accelerating at the recorded speed. And the lap time was also just the start, with the car electronically limited to 350 km/h.

Needless to say, this provides BYD with bragging rights and has deflated the egos of a few fossil-fueled hypercar owners. However, the technology transfer could be more important. With a more advanced “double-layer cooling structure,” the battery has a whopping 30C discharge rate. Given that the car has 2220 kW (2977 hp) of motor power, the previously stated 80 kWh battery capacity could be accurate. It will be interesting to see how that translates into charging speed. While 1200V chargers may not yet have been introduced, BYD also tends to use the SiC power electronics that power the motors to onboard charge the batteries. Will the car be able to use BYD’s “Megawatt Flash Charger” at the full 1360 kW maximum output for an extended period? Will new, even faster chargers be developed?

Cooling seems to be a major consideration. Overall, the cooling was credited for a 133% increase in power, and the heat exchange efficiency was improved by 40%. These improvements could be adapted to make mainstream vehicles more reliable in extreme heat and efficient in operation.

BYD also made improvements to the DiSus-X active suspension system. Could this trickle down to more mainstream vehicles? It might also include some of the advancements seen in patents published recently for energy recovery. Hopefully, we will be provided more detail soon.

While these kinds of accomplishments might have little relevance to the average buyer, they do make EVs more exciting and help to build esteem. The performance also helps to deflate the EV detractors. However, if this technology transfers to more mainstream models, it could have far more impact on a much larger group of consumers. Hopefully, the speed of technology transfer will reflect the speed of the car.