Chinese EV manufacturer BYD unveiled a new platform for electric vehicles this week saying that it said could charge EVs as quickly as it takes to pump a tank of fuel, reported Reuters.
The company also said it would build a charging network across China. The so-called “super e-platform” will be capable of peak charging speeds of 1,000 kilowatts (kW), enabling cars that use it to travel 249 miles on a five-minute charge, founder Wang Chuanfu said at an event livestreamed from the company's Shenzhen headquarters.
“Charging speeds of 1,000 kW would be twice as fast as Tesla's superchargers, whose latest version offers up to 500 kW charging speeds,” wrote Reuters.
BYD said it would build over 4,000 ultra-fast charging units across China. The company didn't specify the time frame or how much it would invest in building the network. To date, BYD owners have largely relied on other automakers' charging facilities or public charging poles run by third-party operators to charge their vehicles, Reuters reported.
Car industry execs in the U.S. and Europe have long been concerned that China could become a dominant seller of electric vehicles, wrote Bloomberg. “Yet Chinese automaker associations' data show gas-powered vehicles accounted for nearly 80% of total vehicle exports last year.”
Full story BYD Plans to Build Network of 5-Minute EV Chargers in China | NACS
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