Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has unveiled a new fast-charging technology that can increase the range of a vehicle by 400 km (249 miles) after a five-minute charge. Along with this announcement, BYD also pledged to make significant investments in charging station infrastructure, building more than 4,000 new fast chargers across China.
The “Super e-Platform” technology is capable of charging at a peak rate of 1000 kW, which is twice as much as Tesla’s fastest V4 chargers, which will reach a peak capacity of 500 kW when they are launched this year. The fast charging technology is initially available in two new vehicles, the Han L sedan and the Tang L SUV, which start at 270,000 yuan (about 37,330 USD).
“In order to completely solve our users’ charging problems, we aim to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refueling time of gasoline cars,” said BYD founder Wang Chuanfu during the presentation in Shenzhen. “This is the first time in the industry that the charging capacity has reached one megawatt.”
BYD has also committed to building more than 4,000 ultra-fast chargers across China using the new platform, although it did not specify a timeframe for this project. This is a notable move given that, according to Reuters, most BYD car owners in China rely on chargers from other manufacturers to keep their cars charged.
This isn’t the only move BYD has made that’s garnering media attention. Earlier this month, it released a rooftop drone launcher compatible with all of its cars, developed in collaboration with DJI, which allows drones to take off and land at speeds of up to 25 km/h. The company is closing the gap with Tesla, selling 1.76 million vehicles in 2024, slightly behind Tesla’s 1.79 million, although 90 percent of these sales are in China, led by its hybrid vehicles.
