Electric cars, China develops new technology - Why are Chinese manufacturers building fast charging systems?
China's BYD has unveiled a megawatt charging system that it says can charge an electric car as quickly as filling up a gas car. The company said it will build a network across China, sparking a new supercharging race.
Drivers skeptical of electric vehicles have cited concerns that their batteries could fail during long-distance trips, prompting automakers to find solutions in fast-charging technology as well as battery swapping.
Chinese automakers are using such technologies as key selling points to attract buyers in a hyper-competitive market, and such technologies have been credited with contributing to the high adoption of electric cars in China. Tesla also offers ultra-fast chargers.
BYD said its so-called "super platform" will be capable of charging a maximum of 1,000 kilowatts (kW), enabling cars using it to travel 400 km on a 5-minute charge.
To achieve such performance, BYD said it had developed a suite of technologies including batteries with a 10C charging multiplier, meaning they can be charged at 10 times the battery capacity in an hour. Others include high-power motors, powerful chips and fast chargers that support 1,000 kW of power.
By comparison, Tesla has a mostly 400-volt system that can charge up to 250 kW for its electric cars. The exceptions for the American automaker are its Cybertruck, which runs on an 800-volt architecture, with a maximum speed of 350 kW.
Zeekr, Geely's premium brand, launched an 800-volt platform last year that can charge 80% of a 75 kWh battery in 10.5 minutes. Li Auto and Xpeng have similar technologies that can achieve more than 400 km of driving range on a 10-minute charge.
BYD accounts for more than a third of EV sales in China, but its owners have largely relied on charging equipment from other automakers or public charging stations run by third-party operators.
The company said the latest electronic super-platform requires its own fast chargers and that it would build more than 4,000 such charging stations across China.
Analysts, however, have warned that the mass adoption of fast-charging technology will put additional pressure on the capacity of the power grid, which would require additional efforts and investments to improve the infrastructure.
BYD said it would address the challenge by equipping an energy storage unit with each of its fast chargers, which would make such facilities more costly.
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