BYD’s new electric SUV is setting a new standard in EV technology, making charging faster and more convenient.
Traditionally, filling up a gas tank in an SUV takes around five or six minutes. Now, BYD’s latest electric SUV can charge its battery in roughly the same 5-6 minutes, thanks to the company’s cutting-edge EV chargers. This is a significant leap forward. “It’s an incredible engineering achievement to develop a battery that can handle such fast charging,” says John Helveston, an engineering management professor at George Washington University specializing in China’s EV industry. “Tesla doesn’t even have battery technology close to this level.” BYD’s new charger is twice as powerful as Tesla’s latest supercharger.
The new BYD vehicles are built to handle 1,000 volts of power, and their advanced chargers are designed to match that capacity. This means drivers can add an impressive 249 miles of range in just five minutes. The company is now planning to install 4,000 of these high-speed chargers across China.
One of the main concerns stopping many U.S. consumers from switching to electric vehicles is charging time. While most drivers can conveniently charge their cars at home, and modern EVs already offer a much greater range than the average daily commute, the perception that EVs take too long to charge remains a barrier. For long road trips or for people who don’t have easy access to home chargers, the availability of ultra-fast charging stations could be a game-changer in making EVs more widely adopted.
China is leading the world in EV battery technology, and that’s no accident. “This is the result of multiple factors, including over a decade of strong government policies supporting the industry and securing material supply chains,” says Helveston. (Meanwhile, former President Trump’s anti-EV stance could set the U.S. even further behind.) On top of government support, innovative companies like BYD are driving rapid advancements in battery science.
The pace of technological development in China is astounding. “When a new charging platform or battery technology emerges, Volkswagen and BMW might take five years to integrate it. Tesla might do it in a year. But in China, they can make it happen in just three months,” says Dan Wang, a researcher on China’s tech industry and a fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School.
It’s not just about technology the infrastructure rollout is faster, too. “In China, approvals for installing high-power chargers are much simpler because you only have to deal with one state-owned power company,” Helveston explains. By contrast, the U.S. process requires coordination between multiple entities, making installations slower and more expensive.
Of course, introducing ultra-fast chargers comes with challenges, especially for the electric grid. If too many people charge their EVs at the same time like when they get home from work it could put a strain on the system. However, if drivers use powerful chargers in the middle of the day, it could actually help stabilize grids by using excess solar energy that might otherwise go to waste.
China’s approach to grid management could serve as a model for the U.S. “Ideally, most EV owners would charge their vehicles slowly over longer periods, but fast charging is becoming an essential part of the ecosystem,” Helveston notes. Given the rapid pace of innovation in China’s EV sector, he expects the country to develop solutions for managing high-energy demands far more efficiently than the U.S.
BYD’s latest advancements signal a shift in the EV landscape. With faster charging, better infrastructure, and continued innovation, the future of electric mobility is arriving much sooner than expected.