EV charging is now almost as fast as pumping gas.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has revealed new fast-charging tech that can add 400km (249 miles) of range from a five minute charge. With the announcement, BYD has also promised to make a major investment in charging infrastructure, building over 4,000 of the new fast chargers across China.

The “Super e-Platform” tech is capable of charging at peak speeds of 1,000kW, double the fastest Tesla V4 superchargers, which will peak at 500kW when they roll out this year. The faster charging tech is initially available in two new vehicles, the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV, which start at 270,000 yuan (around $37,330).

“In order to completely solve our users’ charging anxiety, we have been pursuing a goal to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refuelling time of petrol vehicles,” BYD founder Wang Chuanfu said from a Shenzhen launch event. “This is the first time in the industry that the unit of megawatt has been achieved on charging power.”

  • humanspiral
    4·
    2 days ago

    1mw chargers are proposed for trucking, and exist. A smaller battery being able to charge at 10C is the breakthrough. The cars on 1000v platform and 1086hp for $37300-$45000 announced… is a huge deal. I don’t think even expensive supercars have been announced at 1000v.

    10C discharging has typically been reserved for small RC plane battery chemistries. LFP chemistries have supported charging at 10C but only with rapid degradation, compared to sane levels. Usual 30%-80% restrictions are likely to apply.

    • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.orgEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      Yeah but imagine the BMS you’d need for 1MW to not have everything immediately go to hell, especially as your math puts you at 1,000 volts, 1,000 amps. You can make cables that big, and perhaps that will become standard, but this is a bit beyond comprehension with current tech.

      • humanspiral
        1·
        1 day ago

        just searched for 1000a bms’s and they don’t seem ridiculously large. unlimited length cable needs under 1cm diameter copper as code. Not crazy either. And a calculator says that 10 feet would only have 4% voltage drop at 13awg (house wire size).

        • Pete Hahnloser@beehaw.orgEnglish
          2·
          13 hours ago

          I’m using 8AWG from the solar for 1,200W. While it may be overkill, well, one doesn’t want to start a fire in a van. That runs about 80A, so I’d likely be fine smaller, but 1,000 amps being “just” a centimetre is something of an absurd claim. I suppose compared to gas pumps, it’s tiny!

          • humanspiral
            1·
            11 hours ago

            I agree that the calculator seems to be dangerous result. Code says that 9mm 2/0 AWG copper is needed. Insulation not counted.

    • Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee
      2·
      2 days ago

      Oh, yeah, I understood that - it was the fact that this is for the everyday “consumer” (for consumers) tech that inspired the comment, that regular folk will get up & personal with such tech soon & make it a regular mundane chore.

      I could think about how much electricity an electric plant produces (& couldn’t comprehend it in daily terms that would make sense), but sitting in a charging car you get a much clearer picture of what that means, of how much energy (and “how much driving”) is running through that cable every second, etc.