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Car company BYD makes charging as fast as refuelling

19.3.2025

Translation: machine translated

With a new battery and charging system, the Chinese company BYD wants to shorten charging stops for electric cars. Specifically, it should be possible to charge 400 kilometres of range in five minutes.

It's a challenge to Tesla: BYD will be selling electric cars that can be charged with up to 1000 kilowatts from this April, as Bloomberg reports. By comparison, a Tesla currently "only" charges electricity for a range of up to 275 kilometres in 15 minutes, with a charging capacity of 250 kilowatts. Electric cars from the Volkswagen Group often only charge with around 100 kilowatts of power - and stand at the charging stations for correspondingly longer.

The new battery technology from BYD is available to buyers of the Han L saloon. In China, the car costs the equivalent of around 35,000 or 33,000 francs. While there is already a BYD dealer network in Germany, it is a challenge to buy a BYD electric car in Switzerland because there are no sales partners yet.

Seal L charges with HPC guns

Even once the new Han L is on the road in Europe, it is unlikely that it will be able to be charged with 1000 kilowatts. This is because the "super e-platform" requires suitable charging stations. In its home market of China, BYD is building its own charging infrastructure - just like Tesla with its Superchargers. At such BYD charging stations, the new Han-L saloon cars are charged with two HPC guns and two cables in order to reach peak power. Bundling this power into one cable is not practical. Due to the heat development, it would have to be well cooled or insulated and would therefore be very thick, rigid and unwieldy.

The charging voltage is increased to 1000 volts. In addition, a current of 1000 amps is required to achieve the 1000 kilowatts of charging power. A BYD electric car would then recharge two kilometres of range per second. This means that BYD even leaves the previous charging leader, the Porsche Taycan, behind. Following a revision, this charges with a maximum of 320 kW at peak instead of 270 kW.

BYD wants to set itself apart from the competition with a "fully liquid-cooled megawatt flash charging system". The company has developed a next-generation silicon carbide power chip for the automotive industry that enables extremely high-power charging. The chip has a rated voltage of up to 1500 volts. The cells of the fast-charging battery contain "ultra-fast ion channels" from the positive to the negative electrode. According to BYD, this reduces the internal resistance of the battery by 50 per cent.

The stock market is optimistic

Whether the charging performance announced by BYD will actually be achieved has not yet been independently verified or tested. The first test reports will be interesting as soon as sales of the saloon have started.

In the stock markets, investors are already optimistic following the announcement. BYD shares rose significantly on the day of the announcement. Tesla shares fell significantly. The advertising message "Charging as fast as refuelling" could help potential e-car buyers plagued by range anxiety and further boost sales at BYD.

If you want to read more about Chinese car brands, our colleague Manuel did some research on his trip to China and presented the most important brands in an article.

Background information
The electric cars you’ve never heard of
by Manuel Wenk

Header image: BYD

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Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.

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