BYD’s young performance EV brand Yangwang wants to turn some heads in Europe by debuting its U9 supercar at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The annual event hasn’t seen many Chinese entrants, but Yangwang has at least two cars on their way to the UK to show performance enthusiasts the potential of its e⁴ platform technology.
Yangwang operates as one of the newest all-electric brands under the BYD umbrella. BYD launched the sub-brand in January 2023 while showcasing a new performance EV architecture called e⁴.
When paired with Yangwang’s DiSus-X Intelligent Body Control System, the automaker says these two core technologies will “revolutionize the pure electric supercar segment, seamlessly integrating track performance, street adaptability, and playful features.”
Like supercars than call ollie, for instance.
At the brand launch, Yangwang unveiled its first two models—the borderline amphibious U8 SUV and the U9 supercar, designed to compete with Ferrari. We’ve since seen a third, less extreme model called the U7 sedan emerge, but only its two siblings are currently available on the Chinese market – the most recent being the U9 this past February.
The U9 features quad motors, 1,287 horsepower (960 kW), and 1,200 lb-ft (1,680 Nm) torque for a 0 to 62 mph (0-100 km/hr) sprint time of 2.36 seconds. This summer, Yangwang will show the public at Goodwood what the U9 is capable of on the track, and its supercars are already making their way over from China.
Yangwang U9 to make overseas debut at Goodwood
According to CnEVPost, BYD’s Yangwang brand plans to compete at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed held each year in West Sussex in the UK. According to a recent Weibo post from Yangwang’s general manager of sales, Hu Xiaoqing, two U9 supercars departed China by boat on May 7 and are on their way to England.
According to Hu, Yangwang looks forward to showcasing its U9s at Goodwood while “meeting with supercar enthusiasts around the world.” The Goodwood Festival of Speed began in the early ’90s and is considered by many to be one of the pinnacle motorsport events for showcasing vehicle capabilities and attempting record track times.
As a UK event, China has not had much of a presence at Goodwood in the past, but Yangwang hopes to change that this year. For example, NIO was the only China-based automaker present at last year’s event. Still, we expect to see more and more EVs making their way overseas as Chinese automakers continue to expand into new markets around Europe.
The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed will take place July 11-14 this year, and we hope to do a full recap of the EVs (including the Yangwang U9) that stand out and hopefully don’t crash into a pile of hay. Stay tuned.
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