BYD Yangwang U9 Xtreme Confirmed for Australia

Image credit: BYD Yangwang

Australia has secured one of the 30 examples of BYD's halo hypercar, the Yangwang U9 Xtreme. The buyer, a private Australian collector who has chosen not to be publicly named, has reportedly paid 20 million yuan, around AU$2.7 million, for one of just 30 examples BYD will build worldwide. The car is locked in for delivery in early 2027.

The Australian allocation comes via Eagers Automotive, BYD's biggest retail partner in Australia. That relationship is what got an Australian buyer to the front of a queue almost no one else in the country could even join, and it is also why the car is heading here in the first place: to act as a halo asset for the local dealer network rather than as anyone's daily driver.

What the Australian Buyer Has Ordered

The Speed Record

Image credit: BYD Yangwang

On 20 September 2025, former GT1 world champion Marc Basseng took the U9 Xtreme to 496.22km/h (308.4mph) at ATP Papenburg's high-speed oval in Germany. He needed three laps. The first one cleared 300mph, the second hit 302mph, the third nailed 308.4mph. That makes the U9 Xtreme not just the world's fastest EV but the fastest production car of any kind, beating Bugatti's Chiron Super Sport 300+ and its 490.5km/h benchmark from 2019.

BYD reckons the car had more in it. The team has hinted publicly that an even higher number is on the cards if they get a longer track. Top Gear's testing partner described the third run as "moment of the year".

Why It's Faster Than Anything Else

Image credit: BYD Yangwang

Three things make the Xtreme this fast. The first is the quad-motor layout: one electric motor per wheel, each producing 744bhp and spinning at up to 30,000rpm. That's roughly twice the rev limit of a typical Tesla or BYD road-car motor. The second is the 1,200V architecture, the first ever in a production car. Higher voltage means lower current for the same power, which means lighter cabling, less heat and the ability to extract these output numbers continuously rather than in short bursts.

The third is aerodynamics and tyres. BYD developed the bespoke high-speed tyres in-house with a Chinese supplier because no off-the-shelf rubber on the planet is rated to keep a 2,480kg car planted at over 300mph. The active aero is similarly extreme: the bodywork rearranges itself at speed to balance drag against downforce.

Why Bring It to Australia At All?

Image credit: BYD Yangwang

The car is going to be used to promote BYD in Australia. It is a halo asset for Eagers and BYD's local dealer network rather than a daily driver. The Xtreme is not going through Australian Design Rules compliance and will not be street-registered. Expect to see it on stands at Sydney and Melbourne motor shows, parked outside BYD dealerships on launch days, and probably wheeled out for the next BYD flagship reveal when it happens.

The mainstream BYD range that is on sale here is much more grounded. Have a look at our BYD Sealion 8 coverage for the new seven-seat PHEV flagship from $61,549 driveaway, or the BYD Shark 6 if you want a 3.5-tonne-towing PHEV ute. The Sealion 7 Performance is the closest thing BYD Australia sells today to a sports-EV, with 390kW and a low-fives 0-100. None of them are 300mph hypercars, but all of them you can actually buy and drive on a public road.

The Bigger Picture

Yangwang sits above the regular BYD brand the same way Lexus sits above Toyota or Genesis above Hyundai. It's BYD's vehicle for proving the parent company can build what European premium brands have spent decades positioning as untouchable. The U9 Xtreme is not really a car you sell at scale, it is a press release on wheels: the Chinese can build the fastest road-legal car in history, and they can do it on batteries. That message is now arriving in Sydney via the country's largest dealer group.

For a wider read on what else is incoming from China, our Chinese brands coming to Australia in 2026 and 2027 piece tracks every new entrant. The luxury tier is starting to fill out fast: Denza Z9GT (BYD's premium sister brand, 850kW super wagon) and the Zeekr 9X PHEV are both confirmed for 2026.