BYD Flash Charging network for the UK: blistering 1,500kW speeds due for big demo

BYD has confirmed plans to show off its game-changing 1,500kW ‘Flash Charging’ station in Paris next month. The first station will be a working mock-up rather than a permanent installation, but previews the kind of infrastructure set for launch in the UK this summer.

Due to be revealed at the Paris Palais Garnier opera house on 8 April, the chargepoint will preview BYD’s ‘Ready in 5, Full in 9, Cold Add 3’ mantra, whereby a 10 to 70 per cent charge of premium sub-brand Denza’s Z9GT flagship is possible in five minutes, while filling to 97 per cent takes only nine minutes.

BYD claims its chargers will even perform in sub-zero conditions; a 20 to 97 per cent charge at minus 30 degrees celsius is apparently possible in just 12 minutes. For comparison, the BMW iX3 – one of the fastest-charging EVs currently on the market – takes around 21 minutes to top up from 10 to 80 per cent.

A spokesperson for BYD and Denza told Auto Express it hasn’t yet been confirmed where the first permanent Flash Charging station will be located, but that its focus will be “the five main markets” of Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK.

The first stations will be operable before Denza deliveries commence, with usage initially restricted to BYD drivers, before being opened up to all makes and models – possibly at a competitive price compared with other major charge operators. The Chinese giant’s new all-liquid-cooled Flash Charging points are more than four times as powerful as the 350kW units found at most UK service stations now.

The Z9GT will go on sale in Europe this summer, with right-hand drive UK models due a little later, likely around August or September. A Flash Charging station will be active, probably around the firm’s UK HQ in Uxbridge, West London, before the first cars arrive.

BYD already has more than 4,000 of its mega-fast charging stations in China, but is aiming to have 20,000 up and running by the end of the year. Executive vice president Stella Li told Auto Express last year at least 200 to 300 will be installed in the UK by the end of 2026. 

Interestingly, the chargers won’t be branded as BYD or Denza, as with rival Tesla’s Superchargers; instead it’s simply going to be called the Flash Charging network. 

In an exclusive interview with Auto Express last year, BYD’s UK country manager Bono Ge revealed how the company would build its network of cutting-edge chargers so rapidly: batteries. 

That’s hardly surprising considering BYD has been making batteries for 30 years, but the latest packs will help make its rapid chargers quicker and less expensive to install. “The challenge is upgrading your power supply, because we need to deliver one megawatt,” Ge explained.

“For example, our office here only comes with a 250 kilowatt power supply. If you want to deliver one megawatt, you have to upgrade the power grid, which probably would take us at least 12 months. Very likely 18 months to 24 months. That’s something we don't want. 

“I think our solution will be to get batteries in between to store the energy needed. That way you don’t need to upgrade your power supply and can install the charger much more swiftly. That will also make the cost reasonable.”

Ge added that for Flash Chargers “you only need to give us a space for a parking bay that’s already good for the charger and energy storage together. We’ll have a low input, but you'll get a megawatt output”.

Being able to install its chargers faster and being cheaper than the competition will enable BYD to charge customers less to use them. “If we set up these things, we don’t need to charge them 89p per kWh, we’ll probably only charge them 60p,” Ge added.

Elsewhere, BYD has also developed the second generation of its famous Blade Battery – fitted to the Z9GT – which is more energy dense to allow for more than 621 miles (1,000km) of range and enable cars to reach the high speeds its Flash Chargers can deliver.

While the Denza Z9GT will be the first car with the new Blade Battery 2.0, it’s possible the technology will eventually trickle down to more affordable BYD vehicles – like the Dolphin Surf electric city car, which is available through our Buy A Car service from just £16k – but that’s not been confirmed yet.

However, Ge said: “We understand in the UK, a lot of customers are concerned about electric vehicles, about range. There’s really two solutions. One is to put more batteries in the cars and the other one is to increase the charging speed.

“More batteries is the direction some people are going down, but there is a limit on how many batteries you can carry, because you eventually want to develop a car to carry people, not carry batteries. So charging might be the better answer.”

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