BYD to Bring 5-Minute Electric Vehicle Charging Technology to Global Market

SHENZHEN, KOMPAS.com – BYD has confirmed that its latest fast-charging technology, Flash Charging, will be brought to global markets after being introduced first in China. Citing Paultan, this battery charging device is claimed to charge electric vehicle batteries far more quickly than Tesla’s Supercharger. BYD states that compatible electric vehicles from BYD and Denza can receive power up to 1,500 kW. This means the battery can be charged from 10 percent to 70 percent in about five minutes. For nearly full charge, from 10 percent to 97 percent, it takes around nine minutes. This technology can also be used on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), although the charging time is longer. Currently, there are about 5,000 stations in China, with the number targeted to increase to 20,000 units by the end of the year. Nevertheless, this figure is still far behind Tesla, which has more than 80,000 Supercharger stations worldwide. The good news is that these stations are not only for BYD vehicles. Outside China, charging will use the CCS2 connector standard, allowing electric vehicles from other brands to charge as well. To avoid excessive strain on the electricity grid, these charging stations are equipped with energy storage batteries (BESS). Thus, electricity can be stored in advance and used when vehicles are charging. However, there is a possibility that BYD will apply additional fees for vehicles that charge too long, to prevent queues. One of the vehicles that already supports this technology is the Denza Z9GT, which has been launched in Europe.