It feels like only yesterday that the Internet was amazed at the news that Xiaomi – best known for its smartphones, watches and wearables – crushed the electric production car record of Germany’s notorious Nurburgring.
SU7 Ultra beat the formidable Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and $ 2.5 million. RIMAC NEVERA, as well as the Tesla Model S plaid, in itself a car that bothered many dedicated performance marks as it set a dazzling time back in 2021.
Now Yangwang has performed a similar farm that broke an EV-top speed record by hitting an eye-watering 293.54 km / h on the ATP test track in Germany.
It beat previous items held by Aspark Owl and Rimac Nevera. Yup, another stroke for the brand, whose CEO is now Hovedhoncho at Bugatti.
The fact that Xiaomi SU7 improved a Porsche Taycan Turbo GT on its very first lap around nurburgring is mildly embarrassing
Yangwang U9, which is only a model from the high performance subcontract of bids, is especially impressive considering its groundbreaking electric driveline. The track edition that sets the record contains four engines, each developing a staggering 7444BHP.
The total output wedges nearly 3,000 hp, while the smart torque vector river system ensures that most of this grunt can be delivered to the road by monitoring and adjusting torque to each wheel more than 100 times per second.
There is also a Disus-X Intelligent Body Control System that automatically adjusts the suspension system for maximum grip and reduction of pitch and roll. The same technique allows the standard road car to skip holes.
What’s more, Yangwang says it is groundbreaking a 1200V ultra -high voltage vehicle platform in this car, one that has been optimized to deal with the kind of extreme battery discenaries experienced during a high -speed record attempt.
China clearly has a choking team on battery technology and are currently leagues in front of Western car manufacturers in both chemistry and production functions
Right now, an 800V system is considered pioneering and is enough to see batteries brimming in less than five minutes from the most powerful charging stations. Yangwang did not go closer to, but we expect this U9 track edition to slip juice from a megawatt charging station to astonishing rates.
There is also no word about what the tailor -made track edition would cost a private buyer, but the ‘standard car’, complete with approx. 1,300 hp, sale in 2024 was at a cost of 1.68 million yuan (or about $ 236,000 / £ 193,000 / AU $ 400,000).
To put it into perspective, it is more than the current Ferrari F80 that costs almost $ 4 million if you were lucky enough to be invited to buy one.
Changing perceptions
Despite the impressive feats demonstrated by both Xiaomi and Yangwang, the general mood of us and European performance car enthusiasts is that the threat is largely overpowered, that it is “easy to get electric cars to go fast in a straight line” or no one will spend their hard-deserved cash on some bathed yangwang.
Although it is true that the brand value will undoubtedly remain one of the most important factors when it comes to the world of luxury and performance cars (Ferrari’s profits hit $ 2.67 billion last year), the electrification age changes all this, and the Italian Marque may not experience the same success when launching its debut EV this year.
I lost the number of the number of times the term ‘Temu Ferrari’ was bound around comment sections
Porsche said this week that it has scrapped its cellforce high performance battery division created to manufacture the kind of next generation cells that would turn on upcoming electric hypercars, such as the former teased mission X concept.
The German sports car manufacturer said a “global lack of quantities” means that it is not financially viable to continue with its plans to develop its own batteries. It has also slowed its transition to purely electric vehicles as the customer need has been relatively weak.
Achievement that does not cost the land
China clearly has a choking team on battery technology and is currently leagues in front of Western car manufacturers in both chemistry and production functions, but it also proves that it now has the technical know-how to produce brutally skilled electric performance cars.
The fact that Xiaomi SU7 improved a Porsche Taycan Turbo GT on its very first lap around Nurburgring is mildly embarrassing, especially for a fire that has built and racing cars for over 75 years.
Chinese brands are already busy making the electric vehicle more affordable for the masses, but it is also on a mission to democratize performance
Similarly, Yangwang looks like it has the technological skill of producing a version of U9 that could crack 300 km / h Max Speed Barrier-Anoget obtained by the physique described, $ 4million+ Bugatti Chiron Super Sport just last year.
In short, China is busy crushing electric vehicle records, and many are still firm by the brands being somehow substandard or cheaper copies. I lost the number of times that the phrase ‘Temu Ferrari’ was tied around the comment sections in different news coverings.
Chinese brands are already busy making the electric vehicle more affordable for the masses, but it is also on a mission to democratize performance. A fact that has many of the most honorable brands going back to the drawing board.
In China, both Yangwang U9 and Xiaomi SU7 have proved to be huge sales success for the two brands, as the domestic market naturally deals with the latest technological advances.
It’s still to see if the rest of the world even want high results EVs of this kind – but if it does, China will be there to offer them a fraction of the price.
