BYD thinks flash charging will kill petrol cars, it’s just too polite to say it

BYD is rolling out nine-minute-long flash charging, which it believes will smash the final barriers to mass EV adoption. The Chinese tech company plans to roll out 3,000 of the 1,500kW chargers across Europe in 2026, as it moves into infrastructure as well as the supply of EVs and hybrids, as well as premium cars with its new brand Denza.

Will this kill the petrol car, asked Kana Inagaki, the Financial Times’ autos correspondent at its Future of the Car summit in London? “I can not say kill, but [flash charging] can at least compete with the combustion engine,” said BYD’s executive vice president Stella Li with a twinkle in her eye. 

“[When] we make recharging as fast as [petrol] refueling, this will [end] the final barrier for people to jump into electric cars.” She believes this will be a historic moment in EV adoption, a “revolution with the kind of technology we launch in China now and with Denza cars”. 

“Today, people don’t buy electric cars because it's too long for them to charge, there aren’t too many charging stations and, even if you build a lot, they might be occupied because cars are sitting there for 40 minutes, or maybe one hour in the winter.”

“Flash charging technology is more like a gas station,” she continued. “You go there and before you finish your coffee, the charging is finished, and you can move.” Ms Li reckons this will improve the utilisation of chargers by a factor of 30, with throughput soaring.

She claimed flash charging would give EVs sufficient charge in five minutes, or charge to 97 per cent in nine minutes – or 12 in extreme cold. The first BYD with flash charging capability is the second-generation Atto 3 midsize SUV, which packs BYD’s next-generation Blade 2 battery cells. The European launch car for premium brand Denza – the Z9GT, a wannabe Porsche Taycan Gran Turismo – is also compatible with the next-gen chargers. 

Longer warranties to counter fast-charging fears  

Blade 2 batteries will be backed by a longer warranty, Ms Li promised, to counter consumer fears that high-power charging will lead to faster battery degradation. 

The BYD regional boss believes flash charging is a “game changer” that will give the Chinese car maker the chance to play in “100 per cent of the market”. “In the UK our EV penetration means there’s 70 per cent of the market we can not touch. With flash charging technology, we can equally compete with gasoline cars.” 

Ms Li also indicated how flash charging will seek to overcome the challenges of getting sufficient power supply and grid connections. The stations will be backed by BYD battery storage, which will recharge overnight to offer back-up supply. Other sites will be coupled with solar, to help with developing infrastructure in the Middle East and Africa, she claimed. 

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