Whatever the perspective of analysis, there is little doubt that the Chinese automotive industry is determined to make its mark in the sector, and one of its most active representatives is BYD, the world’s largest manufacturer of electrified vehicles, and the most recent car brand to enter the ranking of the hundred most valuable brands on the planet, as listed by Interbrand. This time, the Chinese group is in the news through its luxury sub-brand Yangwang: the already famous U9 Xtreme (which, in September, became, without a doubt, the fastest hypercar ever, reaching a maximum speed of 496.22 km/h on the German test track in Papenburg), it is now known, had established, on August 22, a new record among electric supercars at the legendary Nürburgring circuit, the one where no manufacturer wants to miss the chance to shine.
Ensuring this achievement was Moritz Kranz, an experienced German driver who, throughout his career in GT racing, has accumulated nearly ten thousand laps of the iconic German track. On this occasion, he recorded a best time of 6m59s157 to complete a lap of the demanding 20.832 km layout of the Nordschleife, making the U9 Xtreme the first model of its kind to break the seven-minute barrier (it was over 5 seconds faster than the Rimac Nevera and shaved about 7 seconds off the time set by the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT).
As for the main protagonist of the day, it shares with the U9 series the e4 Platform and the DiSus-X intelligent body control suspension system, but with these technologies being refined for track use, namely through the introduction of the so-called “body-attitude control” (to harmonize performance in terms of top speed and lap times), and an electrical architecture at 1200 V, with four electric motors, each capable of reaching 30,000 rpm, resulting in a combined power of 3000 hp, for a power-to-weight ratio just above 0.82 kg/hp. At the same time, to handle the steep elevations and all kinds of curves of the so-called “Green Hell,” the U9 Extreme, of which no more than thirty units will be produced, received a completely redesigned cooling system, a braking system with carbon-ceramic discs and titanium alloy components, and semi-slick GitiSport e·GTR2 PRO tires.
