BYD on Monday unveiled a brand new platform for electrical automobiles that it stated might cost EVs as rapidly because it takes to pump petrol and introduced for the primary time that it will construct a charging community throughout China.
The so-called “tremendous e-platform” will probably be able to peak charging speeds of 1 000kW, enabling automobiles that use it to journey 400km on a five-minute cost, founder Wang Chuanfu stated at an occasion livestreamed from the corporate’s Shenzhen headquarters.
Charging speeds of 1 000kW can be twice as quick as Tesla’s superchargers whose newest model affords as much as 500kw charging speeds. Quick-charging expertise has been key to growing EV adoption as it’s seen to assist guarantee EV drivers’ issues over with the ability to cost their automobiles rapidly.
“With a purpose to fully resolve our person’s charging nervousness, we have now been pursuing a purpose to make the charging time of electrical automobiles as brief because the refuelling time of petrol automobiles,” Wang stated. “That is the primary time within the business that the unit of megawatt (cost) has been achieved on charging energy.”
The brand new charging structure will probably be initially obtainable in two new EVs — the Han L sedan and the Tang L SUV priced from C¥270 000 (R675 000) and BYD stated it will construct over 4 000 ultrafast charging piles, or models, throughout China to match the brand new platform.
The corporate didn’t specify the timeframe or how a lot it will put money into constructing such amenities. To this point, BYD homeowners have largely relied on different automotive makers’ charging amenities or public charging poles run by third-party operators to cost their automobiles.
Charging amenities
Tesla has supplied its superchargers in China since 2014 and BYD’s smaller Chinese language friends corresponding to Nio, Li Auto, Xpeng and Zeekr have additionally been investing extensively and constructing charging amenities for years.
Learn: Mercedes takes on Tesla and BYD with electrical CLA
BYD largely depends on plug-in hybrids for its gross sales, which hit 4.2 million models final yr. It has focused promoting 5-6 million models this yr. — Qiaoyi Li, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh, (c) 2025 Reuters
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