In a report, BYD said the battery and charging system, called “Super e-Platform”, boasted peak speeds of 1,000 kW, allowing cars to travel up to 470km after being plugged in for just five minutes.
The new technology aims to “fundamentally solve users’ charging anxiety”, according to BYD founder Wang Chuanfu.
“Our pursuit is to make the charging time of electric vehicles (EVs) as short as the refuelling time of fuel vehicles,” he said at yesterday evening’s launch.
Hong Kong-listed shares in BYD jumped more than 6% to hit a fresh peak at one point this morning before paring some of the gains.
The announcement positions BYD ahead of arch-rival Tesla, whose Superchargers currently offer charging speeds of 500 kW.
BYD introduced the Super e-Platform alongside two new EV models that will be the first to feature the system: the Han L sedan and the Tang L SUV.
The Shenzhen-based company also unveiled plans to build more than 4,000 ultra-fast charging stations nationwide to support the new technology.
The ambitious expansion comes on the heels of remarkable growth, with February sales soaring 161% to more than 318,000 EVs.
Meanwhile, Tesla experienced a steep 49% sales decline in the Chinese market during the same period.
Will this come to all EVs?
While the tech is impressive, it does come at a high cost. It’s unlikely that BYD will be sharing this technology with the wider EV market and they’re incentivised to hoard this tech for themselves.
Also, if you think about it, there is very little incentive for EV owners to buy a car that charges in 5 minutes, since most of them will be charging their vehicles at home.
Finally, this ultra-fast charging pulls a lot of electricity currently fuelled by fossil fuels, ironically. So imagine thousands of EVs charging so quickly all across your country and you can see where this will lead.
If nothing else, this new technology shook investors’ confidence in Tesla. With everything going on with the oligarch-in-chief, another blow to Tesla‘s stock price may shake the megalomaniacal dictator off his high horse and we’ll see some sense in the world again.
