BYD launches 1,500kW EV charger in China

BYD has launched a new 1500kW electric vehicle charger in China, claiming to be capable of charging from 10 to 97 per cent in just nine minutes.

Its new ‘Flash Charging’ system features 1,500 amps of current and a 1,000-volt base architecture.

The Chinese automaker said the station is paired with an ultra-fast-discharge energy storage system that helps to break through grid restrictions.

It uses a battery that gets recharged at slower speeds, and can act as both an energy reservoir to prevent grid overload and a power amplifier that enables high-power charging.

BYD has already installed 4,239 Flash Charging stations across China, and it expects to have 20,000 in operation there by the end of this year.

It also plans to launch the product overseas, with further details to be shared in due course.

BYD said the T-shaped overhead design of the charging unit ensures the cables avoid getting dirty or wet through contact with the ground, while the lighter connector and a pulley-based, rail-sliding cable make it much easier to hook up a vehicle, regardless of where its charge port is connected.

The launch of the Flash Charging system coincides with BYD’s new Blade Battery 2.0, which has a five per cent increased energy density compared to the first generation Blade Battery, meaning higher driving ranges on a single charge.

According to BYD, the Blade Battery 2.0 passed a string of fresh benchmark safety evaluations, including the world’s first simultaneous Flash Charging and nail-penetration test, which it says resulted in no thermal runaway, smoke or fire, even after 500 charging cycles.

The new battery also passed a thermal-runaway test after the forced short circuit of four cells simultaneously, with no fire or explosion, even when reaching temperatures of over 700°C.