China’s leading new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD has unveiled a disruptive technology—“Megawatt Flash Charging”—this week, claiming its latest battery system can add 400 kilometers of range to electric vehicles in just 5 minutes, a pace akin to refueling a conventional gasoline car.
This breakthrough not only further solidifies BYD’s technological edge in the global electric vehicle race but also directly challenges multinational competitors such as Tesla and Mercedes-Benz.
At a press conference on March 17, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu explained that the company spent a decade overcoming challenges in high-voltage architecture, raising the charging voltage to 1,000 volts and boosting the current to 1,000 amperes to ultimately achieve a charging power of 1 megawatt (1,000 kW). The “Flash Charging Battery” featuring this technology achieves a 10C charging rate, meaning that under theoretical conditions, the battery can be fully charged in 6 minutes—nearly twice as fast as the current industry standard of 4C technology.
“Our goal is to completely eliminate consumers’ anxiety over charging efficiency,” Wang stressed. He noted that since 2010, BYD has focused on independently developing the core “three-electric” technologies (battery, motor, and electronic control) for electric vehicles. Its newly unveiled Super e-Platform integrates the world’s first kilovolt-level architecture, a high-speed motor capable of 30,000 rpm, and a new generation of silicon carbide power chips, marking the Chinese electric vehicle supply chain’s ability to redefine industry standards.
BYD’s breakthrough elevates the global competition in power battery technology to a new level. Currently, Tesla’s Superchargers require 15 minutes to add 275 kilometers of range, while Mercedes-Benz’s latest electric model, the CLA, claims that a 10-minute charge can deliver 325 kilometers of range. Meanwhile, Chinese battery giant CATL’s “Shenxing Battery,” introduced last year, can provide 400 kilometers of range in 10 minutes. By bypassing the 6C stage and employing 10C fast-charging technology, BYD has achieved refueling-equivalent speeds, significantly raising the industry benchmark.
To support megawatt flash charging, BYD announced plans to build over 4,000 fully liquid-cooled megawatt charging stations in China, with each station capable of a maximum output of 1,360 kW, and it intends to open its technical standards to attract social capital. Notably, the company introduced a “dual-gun charging” solution that merges two existing 600 kW Superchargers into a megawatt-level unit, providing a cost-effective upgrade path for current charging infrastructure.
However, BYD still faces significant challenges: Tesla now operates over 65,000 Superchargers worldwide, and domestic companies such as Huawei and Li Auto are rapidly expanding their liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging networks. Industry observers believe that the scale and compatibility of charging infrastructure will ultimately determine the market penetration speed of fast-charging technology.