Charging an electric car at the speed of refueling is a reality, says China's BYD

One of the key arguments against electromobility could soon be a thing of the past. The Chinese company BYD announces the imminent launch of the first public charging stations with an unprecedented power of 1,000 kW.

Charging a regular electric car at such a station should take about the same time as filling a car with a conventional combustion engine with gasoline or diesel.

Most public fast chargers for electric cars today offer charging power between 150 and 350 kW, which is on average sufficient for an 80% charge in 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the specific car and its battery capacity. The Chinese company BYD claims that it can reduce this time to just a few minutes and that it should have this technology fully ready for implementation.

The secret to the success of the new Super e-Platform charging technology is, first of all, the higher voltage of the electrical system compared to current standards. While most electric vehicles operate at 400 V, occasionally 800 V, BYD has used a system with a voltage of up to 945 V for the new Super e-Platform (rounded to 1,000 V in marketing materials).

The second pillar of this charging system is the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries themselves, which are known for their thermal stability, higher safety and better adaptability to faster energy supply due to their electrochemical properties. BYD has been developing and manufacturing these batteries for many years, so they have their properties and specifications for this charging technology fully under control.

Finally, the ace up the Super e-Platform system is the “dual gun” solution, i.e. charging the electric vehicle via a double port. The vehicle can thus simultaneously receive energy from two chargers with a power of 500 kW, achieving a total power of up to 1 MW. Such current distribution allows the use of thinner cables with better handling and less demanding cooling.

The Super e-Platform debuts in the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV, which have batteries with a capacity of 83.2 kWh and 108.8 kWh, respectively. BYD says that these models will be able to gain a range of 400 kilometers in 5 minutes of charging with the help of new ultra-fast chargers. However, it should be added that this figure is based on the Chinese CLTC methodology, which is 25 to 30% more optimistic than the European WLTP methodology. In the calculation, it can be assumed that the actual range after 5 minutes of charging will be closer to 280 to 300 km, depending on driving style and conditions, which is of course still a respectable number.

BYD aims to build more than 4,000 ultra-fast charging stations across China, with the first 500 to be in operation in April. Given the enormous demands on the electricity grid, these stations will be equipped with their own energy storage facilities, which are intended to help cover consumption fluctuations and ensure stability even in areas with limited grid capacity.