Chinese energy and automotive giant BYD has announced an ultra-fast charging system for electric vehicles that it claims is nearly as quick as filling a fuel tank.
BYD, China's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, stated on Monday that their fast chargers can provide a full charge for their new electric vehicles in between five and eight minutes, similar to the time needed to fill a fuel tank. The company plans to build over 4,000 of these new charging stations across China.
Charging times and range limitations have been significant factors restricting the transition from gasoline and diesel vehicles to electric vehicles, although Chinese drivers have embraced this change, with a 40% increase in sales of battery electric and hybrid vehicles last year.
BYD's news seemed to hit Tesla on Monday, as the share price of the American electric vehicle manufacturer dropped by 4.8%. BYD, which stands for "Build Your Dreams," began pre-selling its Han L and Tang L models, which are upgraded versions of previous models.
The Chinese company started by manufacturing batteries and has been refining its battery technology and energy storage while building an automotive empire that is expanding beyond China. It claims that its one-megawatt fast chargers can provide energy for 400 kilometers (almost 250 miles) in five minutes.
Very high voltages and a large current are required to maximize charging speeds, said Wang Chuanfu, BYD's founder, in a statement.
"To completely address users' concerns about charging, our goal is to make the charging time for EVs as short as refueling time for fuel vehicles," Wang stated.
The company also mentioned that its fast charging system is based on silicon carbide power chips with voltage levels of up to 1,500V that they developed themselves. Its lithium iron phosphate Blade battery is perhaps the safest and most efficient electric vehicle battery in the world, and Tesla uses it in some of its electric vehicles, according to industry analyst Michael Dunne in a recent report.
BYD stated that it manufactured just over 4.3 million "new energy vehicles" last year, a 41% increase compared to the previous year, including 1.8 million battery electric vehicles and 2.5 million plug-in hybrids. Its stock price on the smaller Chinese market in Shenzhen has risen by almost 50% in the last six months.
While the more luxurious and recent premium models of BYD are expected to sell for up to around $40,000, they also produce much less expensive electric vehicles, such as the Seagull, which sells for around $12,000 in China.
BYD barely surpassed Tesla in battery electric vehicle production in 2024, manufacturing 1,777,965 compared to Tesla's 1,773,443.
In early January, Tesla reported a drop in sales in 2024, an unprecedented event in over a dozen years, while rivals like BMW, Volkswagen, and BYD gained market share with competitive electric vehicles.
But BYD also has weaknesses, Dunne pointed out, noting that the JD Power 2024 New Energy Vehicle Initial Quality Study ranked the BYD Seal and BYD Song Plus electric vehicles at the bottom of their lists.