- BYD’s ultra-fast charging is not just for China
- Company demonstrates five-minute charging at its UK headquarters
- Only one European model will be compatible, but more will follow
BYD showcased its EV Flash Charging technology at its west London headquarters this week, inviting guests and journalists to witness how a Denza Z9 GT, the rival to BYD’s premium brand Porsche Taycan, charges its batteries from 10 to 100% in nine minutes.
Flash chargers, which can deliver a maximum power of 1,500 kW (1.5 megawatts), far exceed the performance of current ultra-fast chargers, which in most locations max out at between 350 and 400 kW.
This next-generation technology has, in the words of BYD UK boss Bono Ge, the potential to “change the perception people have about electric cars”.
During the demonstration, BYD invited an audience member to take the charging gun, which is a standard CCS 2 connector (thus can be used by most electric vehicles) and plug it into a Denza GT 9 with a previously depleted battery that was showing 10% on its infotainment screen.
To help with the heavy, actively cooled wiring required for such speeds, BYD has designed its Flash Charge system to look a bit like regular fuel pumps, with a pulley system that keeps the cables up and off the ground, as well as making them easier to move.
Once plugged in, the charging session began automatically and a BYD representative started the timer. Within minutes, Flash Charge technology had added 200 miles of range, and charging from 10 to 70% took just five minutes. Four minutes later, the battery was at 97%.
“Ready in five, full in nine and if it’s cold, add three minutes,” explained BYD’s head of electric vehicle charging, Diego Pareschi, during the launch, stating that even in the harshest climates, it will only take 12 minutes to fully recharge a battery, not the hours it can take some rivals.
A massive European deployment
According to Bono Ge, BYD plans to introduce about 6,000 flash charging stations outside China by the end of 2027, with 3,000 of them operational in Europe and around 300 destined for the United Kingdom.
“We are already working with BYD dealers, established charging point operators (CPOs) and special partners such as supermarkets, fast food restaurants and other high-traffic areas to establish flash charging locations,” Bono Ge told us.
When asked about the logistical and planning permit challenges faced by these high-power charging points, Ge said BYD’s on-site battery storage solution makes bureaucratic management easier.
A Flash charging station uses a huge 400 kW battery stack to help deliver such high charging speeds, meaning BYD does not have to place such a large demand on the local grid.
It also means that on-site batteries can be charged at night, when electricity is cheaper, with the savings potentially passed on to customers.
“I think the ideal situation we want is to be below 50 pence per kilowatt hour,” Ge said during our discussions.
That’s between 30 and 40 pence (30¢-40¢) cheaper than most ultra-fast public chargers currently found in high-traffic areas in the UK.
Ge added that the company was looking to “prioritize” its customers at first and had to find ways to appease CPOs so as not to undermine them. But he went on to emphasize that Flash chargers are universal and therefore available for any electric vehicle to use, albeit at much slower charging speeds.
The trickle effect
BYD’s head of electric vehicle charging, Diego Pareschi, stated that all BYD cars with the second generation of its Blade Battery technology will be capable of flash charging, but the company did not reveal exactly which models will come to the UK and Europe.
The Chinese company is currently preparing to launch its premium Denza brand outside of China, with the Z9 GT set to offer Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT levels of sophistication and performance at a lower price.
Pareschi said Denza customers will benefit from 18 months of free Flash charging when they purchase a Z9 GT, in a move that echoes previous Tesla incentives.
BYD continues to post record sales figures in the UK and Europe, but says it is reinvesting in those markets again, with €2 billion reserved for the launch of Flash Charge alone.
According to Ge, each charging station costs between £500,000 and £1 million (around $670,000/AU$955,000) to install, depending on the complexity of the construction.
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