Did you know that BYD has multiple sub-brands under their umbrella? Many of them focus on luxury motoring, but none of them are like YANGWANG, BYD’s answer to Europe’s top-tier luxury carmakers. Granted, while most Chinese automakers focus more on the comfortable side of high-end motoring, wafting you along in silence and tranquillity, BYD now has something that’ll instead give you a shot of adrenaline – the U9.
BYD refers to the YANGWANG U9 as a ‘supercar’, though it has way more than enough power to compete with Europe’s fastest hypercars, so I think that’s a more appropriate term for it. Regardless, I was recently invited by the good people over at Stratstone one of the distributors and dealer for BYD cars here in the UK – to head down to Birmingham to check out two new cars under BYD’s ultra-expensive YANGWANG brand.
There’s the U8 off-road luxury SUV and the aforementioned U9 electric hypercar. Now, before you get your hopes up, BYD doesn’t really intend to sell these here in the UK – or anywhere else outside of China, for that matter – but who knows, maybe with enough interest, they might consider bringing it over to our side of the world. Still, I’ve discussed the U8 SUV before, so this time around, I’ll focus more on the U9.
The Best Looking New Hypercar Around?
Just looking at it, let alone standing right next to one, it’s an awe-inspiring piece of machinery to be around. From the outside, the YANGWANG U9 does have that distinct cheese wedge shape of many other supercars and hypercars, though I must say, I do quite like the design of the U9. Time will tell whether or not my tastes will change, or whether I’ll like it even more (or less) down the line, but right now, it does have an interesting look.
You might be able to pick out a few areas of the BYD YANGWANG U9 that take inspiration from its rivals, be it the McLaren-ness or the Lamborghini-ness of some parts of the U9’s silhouette. Nevertheless, I do think the U9 shares a familial look with the other BYD cars that I’ve driven in the past. Among hypercars and supercars at least, I think the new U9 would look good as a bedroom poster, so that automatically gets a pass from me.
It even looks fast just sitting there, with its huge rear wing (and the taillights running down the fin), an abundance of carbon fibre, and lots of aero pieces here and there, not to mention the U9’s scissor doors. The doors also feature the same automated electronic opening and closing system that you might’ve seen in a Rolls Royce. Now that’s definitely a unique selling point among other high-performance cars and hypercars.
More Power Than Anyone Ever Needs
As expensive and as posh as BYD’s new YANGWANG U9 appears, it’ll cost you a pretty penny, too. That said, even with a price tag starting at 1,680,000 RMB – or around £180,000 here in the UK – it still undercuts other electric hypercars, at least if you’re comparing horsepower. Speaking of, the U9 has a lot of ponies under the hood that you’ll need to learn how to tame, given that this is one of the most powerful cars around.
It’s also propelled through BYD’s e4 Platform, which combines four powerful electric motors, independently controlled, with torque vectoring, to boot. All in all, between those four motors combined, this means you’re looking at an eye-watering 1,300hp and 1,680Nm of torque. This allows you to sprint from 0 to 100km/h in a mere 2.36 seconds, before topping out at a blistering top speed of 309.19km/h.
Moreover, to give you an idea of just how blazingly fast the U9 is, it’ll do a 0 to 400m run in just 9.78 seconds. Naturally, a supercar-slash-hypercar shouldn’t just be about raw power, as agility is another area where the YANGWANG U9 has some interesting tricks up its sleeve, too. It comes with BYD’s DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System, sort of like an active anti-roll system, to keep this beast of a car under control.
You’ll find a similar system in the U8 hybrid SUV, but rather than being calibrated for off-road driving, the U9’s system is designed to keep you poised under hard acceleration, braking, and cornering, not to mention tackling sudden undulations or road imperfections. What all this technical jargon means is that the U9 could adjust its suspension travel by up to 75mm, and it’ll manage this as quickly as 500mm/s.
A Potential Track Day Champion
In addition, there is a tonne of other cool performance-y goodies that BYD’s baked into the U9, most of which you’ll need careful attention to spot! There’s the U9’s cooling system – both for the powertrain and the battery pack – which has been fine-tuned after countless hours of rigorous track testing. And, aside from those aero bits that I mentioned earlier, elsewhere, there’s active aero that helps to reduce drag and improve cooling.
Meanwhile, the U9’s extensive use of carbon fibre certainly helps, both for safety’s sake and because it’s incredibly rigid. Oh, and in case you’re having too much fun with your U9 on those long track day sessions and you forgot to charge, then worry not. BYD allows you to plug in your U9 from both sides, with two charging cables. As such, it has a peak charging rate of 500kW, more than enough to quick-charge your battery in almost no time at all.
On the subject of track days, step inside the U9, and you’ll find BYD’s electronic aids to offer you track-driving assistance. This includes detailed information and track telemetry on 30 different race tracks around China. Sure, it doesn’t apply to us, but who knows, maybe if the U9 ever leaves Chinese soil, they might expand all that telemetry to include other race tracks around the world, too.
Alternatively, even if it doesn’t, at least the interior of the U9 is stunningly plush and comfortable, which I can’t really say applies to every performance-focused EV hypercar out there. So, rather than going down the racy, minimalist, and lightweight approach of track-focused hypercars, the U9 is more grand touring-focused. If BYD ever decides to bring the YANGWANG U9 to the UK, I’m keen to have a go myself and see how it stacks up against the competition, because there’s certainly some promise there.
