Chinese EV giant launches battery that can fully charge in 5 minutes

Chinese automaker BYD has unveiled a line-up of electric vehicles supported by ultra fast-charging that it says will allow them to charge almost as fast as it takes to refuel a regular car.

The automaker’s stock climbed as much as 6 per cent at the open of trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday, lifting its market value to almost $US162 billion ($254 billion) — more than Ford Motor, General Motors and Volkswagen combined.

BYD’s new battery and charging system was capable of providing around 400 kilometres of range in 5 minutes in tests on its new Han L sedan, Chairman and founder Wang Chuanfu said on Monday. The manufacturer will start selling vehicles with the new technology next month.

Being able to charge a car in the time it takes a combustion engine vehicle to pull in and out of a petrol station could convince drivers who aren’t willing to make lengthy stops to go electric.

“We believe this is another sign that BYD is undergoing a strategic shift,” Macquarie Capital analysts, including head of China autos Eugene Hsiao, wrote in a note. “Rather than competing on price, vehicle design, or entering new product niches, BYD appears to be looking for ways to leverage its scale and core EV technologies to differentiate in a highly competitive market.”

“By directly addressing one of the key hurdles to BEV adoption (charging speed), the company is offering customers a clearer path to switch from ICEs to EVs,” they wrote.

The new platform, which will underpin many of its future electric vehicles, could provide another boost for BYD, which has come from behind to rival Tesla as the world’s top EV seller. Tesla’s China shipments plunged 49 per cent in February from a year earlier to just 30,688 vehicles, the lowest monthly figure since July 2022.

BYD has committed to building more than 4,000 charging stations across China to serve the newly upgraded EVs. It didn’t disclose a specific timeline or cost to complete the rollout. However, the company earlier this month raised around $US5.6 billion ($8.8 billion) in a share sale.