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Photo: iStock/Robert Way
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD has unveiled a new charging system that it says could make it possible for EVs to charge as quickly as five minutes, and announced for the first time that it would build a charging network across China, according to The Guardian.
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 charge that takes little more time than filling a tank with gas, founder Wang Chuanfu said at an event livestreamed from the company’s Shenzhen headquarters on March 17.
That’s twice as fast as Tesla’s superchargers, whose latest version offers up to 500 kW charging speeds. Fast-charging technology has been seen as key to increasing EV adoption.
Read More: Tesla’s China Sales Slump Adds to Worrying Global Slowdown
“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 refueling time of petrol vehicles,” Wang said.
The new charging architecture will be initially available in two new EVs – the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV – and BYD said it would build more than 4,000 ultra-fast charging piles, or units, across China, although it didn’t specify the time frame or how much it would invest in building such facilities. So far, BYD owners have largely relied on other automakers’ charging facilities or public charging poles run by third-party operators to charge their vehicles.
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