Yangwang U9 review: the 1,288bhp electric Chinese supercar that can actually *dance*

What’s a Yangwang U9?

The U9 is an electric supercar from Chinese luxury brand Yangwang, a sister brand to BYD. It’s also big, pointy, and, if you’re in the 2,978bhp Xtreme version, able to hit 308mph. The base version we drove isn’t quite as punchy, kicking out ‘only’ 1,288bhp. Pedestrian numbers, you’ll agree.

The base one has how much power? How does it manage that?

It’s got four electric motors, one for each wheel. The four combined will get you from 0-62mph in 2.36 seconds, and up to 186mph. There’s an 80kWh Blade battery (BYD’s patented smart battery tech that’s both structural, and able to be pierced with big pointy things without going bang, which is nice) mounted deep in the body that’ll allow for up to 280 miles (450 km) on a charge according to the Chinese Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle.

Though when you’re giving it the full beans you should probably temper your expectations on range. Handily, it’ll charge at 500kW (if you can find a charger that’ll shoot that much power into it), that’ll get you from 30-80 per cent SOC in ten minutes.

Is it light?

No. It’s nearly 2.5 tonnes. Which is sort of to be expected given the chunky battery in its bowels, but BYD’s had a crack at keeping weight down where it can. There’s carbon fibre in its body, and its chassis is optimised for featherweightery.

So it’s a heavy EV with loads of power. Does it feel like a nuclear-propelled elephant?

Again, no. It feels much, much lighter than the numbers suggest. Around the track at BYD’s Zhengzhou shiny new test facility (a $30m+ site next to its factory that features a 1.8m water tank, a steep sandy hill to simulate a dune, an off-road course, and more) it felt positively floaty. That’ll be partly down to its DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System - a really fancy active suspension system, basically.

Each wheel is individually controlled, and it can keep the car level when you’re hoofing it. It also lets the car do a jaunty dance by pumping each corner up and down in time to music, or even jump over obstacles while you’re on the move… for some reason. Quite why you’d want your supercar to do a dance or leap over twigs and such is beyond us, but it’s a neat party piece.

It handles then?

With a handful of laps around a track seemingly built to show the U9 off in its very best light and only in sport mode, the deck was stacked in its favour. It does feel light on its feet in a sort of McLaren-y, Ferrari-ish way, despite weighing… quite a lot. Its steering is pleasingly direct as well, it responds quickly to your inputs and feels as sharp and pointy as you’d hope for. All that weight is very well hidden, impressively so.

Go on then… is it quick?

It’s got 1,288bhp, so… yes. Alarmingly so. Given some straight road, pinning the throttle is quite the experience - it’s not quite as hyperspacey as a Rimac Nevera (few things are), but you’re pinned in your seat and if you trust your eyes to flit down to its wonderfully clear instrument binnacle as the next bend approaches you’ll spot numbers getting very large, very quickly. It’s quite exciting.

Can it stop?

The brakes in the track cars were sharp. Perhaps a little too sharp at low speed. Exiting the pits and giving them what should have been a small tickle resulted in a full on emergency stop. Thankfully on track they felt progressive and more than capable of making the heavy fast thing less fast.

Is it good then?

Off the back of a few laps it felt pretty stellar, for sure. It won’t trouble Mate Rimac’s toys, but it’s also nowhere near as expensive - it retails for around £200k in China, which means (with a preschool educated guess) the UK’s potentially looking at around £200-250k. 1,288bhp for £200k? That seems like… not much for a lot of power and the ability to dance. Helps that it looks pretty good, too.

Price: £TBC
Engine: Quad motor EV
Power: 1,288bhp/1,239lb ft
Transmission: N/A
Performance: 0-62mph in 2.36 seconds, 186mph top speed
Weight: 2,475kgs