This BYD YangWang U9 does 0-100 km/h in 2.36 seconds, and can also dance at the click of a button.
While BYD is currently beating Ford at their own game of making a EV for the every man, it has however decided that it is going to take on Ferrari too. Or more specifically Rimac, with the recent reveal of its YangWang U9 all-electric hypercar set to go toe-to-toe with the Croatian marque’s Nevera.
Set to sit alongside the 1,000 hp U8 SUV in the Chinese automaker’s ultra high-end YangWang sub-brand, the headline figures for this all-electric hypercar is that it packs a combined 1,300 hp and 1,680 Nm of torque from a motor in each of its four wheels. This in turn translates to a quoted century sprint time of just 2.36 seconds, before hustling its way to a top speed of 309 km/h.
The way it goes down the road however is not the only thing that is fast with the YangWang U9, as this all-electric hypercar’s 800-volt architecture has a dual plug-in ultra-fast charging feature that can support up to a combined 500 kW of DC fast charging power going into its twin charging ports. With this method therefore, topping up its 80 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery from 10 to 80% charge will take just ten minutes, while its full EV range is quoted at a decently reasonable 450 km on the more lenient CLTC test cycle.
Moving onto what the powertrain bolts onto meanwhile, the YangWang U9 is to be the first Chinese car to feature a proper supercar-spec carbon fibre monocoque. And while that will probably have been a feat that any other company will be spending pages on in their press release, it is instead but a blip on this particular BYD’s launch information.
Such is because BYD has spent that space instead to excitedly discuss the DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control system, which makes its debut on the YangWang U9. An proprietary in-house development, this innovative suspension setup can lift each wheel by as much as 75 mm at up to 500 m/s with a reaction time as fast as 40 milliseconds, for which the Chinese EV giant touts for its all-electric hypercar to thus offer great agility and comfort for both drivers and passengers, not to mention too the ability for it to ‘effortlessly dance to music with just a click’.
As for other more driver-focused tech on the other hand, BYD claims for the YangWang U9 to feature ’12 sets of active and passive aerodynamic packages to reduce drag coefficient and enhance heat dissipation efficiency’. This all-electric hypercar’s DiLink150 intelligent platform has also apparently been setup specifically for track driving, with it featuring an intelligent racing assistance that will provide extensive track driving services with detailed information on nearly 30 race tracks across China.
Turning towards the cabin, inset within the YangWang U9’s double-scolloped dashboard are a 10.25-inch mini-LED digital instrument display and another 12.3-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen. This is then complimented by twin 14-way adjustable seats, a 127-colour ambient lighting system and a 12-speaker Dynaudio Evidence Series high-end audio system.
Deliveries of this hypercar has been slated to begin in April, with buyers having to fork out a cool 1.68 million yuan (RM 1.1 million) in order to see one of these strikingly-styled YangWang U9s in their garage. Though given that the equivalent Nevera is to be at least five times that, this particular BYD still nevertheless carries on with the convention of Chinese cars being a whole lot more affordable than its western equivalents.
