BYD has found a Brazilian home for its wildest creation.
Marketing boss Li Yunfei said racing driver and Forbes-listed businessman Leo Sanchez would be the only person in Brazil handed the keys to the Yangwang U9 Xtreme (U9X) — a 30-unit special billed as the brand’s most extreme track toy.
Unveiled on Sept 20 at BYD’s Racing Circuit in the Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone, the U9X is the sharpened version of the U9 under BYD’s luxury performance arm, Yangwang.
BYD claims it fielded more than 20 Brazilian purchase pleas from high-profile names before tapping Sanchez, citing his motorsport chops and long-standing interest in the marque.
The tech sheet reads like science fiction.
The U9X runs on a 1,200-volt system with e4 all-wheel drive and Yunnian-X active body control.
A track-optimised Blade battery feeds four 30,000-rpm electric motors rated at 555 kW each, for a combined 2,220 kW (nearly 3,000hp) and a power-to-weight figure of 1,217hp per tonne.
Cooling is a two-tier affair said to lift thermal efficiency by 133%, while stopping power comes from titanium-alloy carbon-ceramic brakes. Grip is via bespoke GitiSport e·Gtr2 Pro semi-slicks.
Against the stopwatch, the prototype reportedly touched 496.22kph, staking a global EV top-speed mark, then lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 6:59.157, the first sub-seven-minute run claimed by an electric production car.
Thirty cars worldwide, one in Brazil — and Sanchez gets it. For everyone else, it’s screensaver material with a very real numberplate.
