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

The speeds would be comfortably ahead of Tesla’s Superchargers, which can add up to 275 kilometres of range in 15 minutes. Tesla, however, has a much larger network of more than 65,000 Superchargers worldwide. Mercedes-Benz Group’s new entry-level CLA electric sedan unveiled last week can add 325 kilometres in 10 minutes of charging.

BYD’s new EV platform will allow cars to reach a speed of 100 kilometres per hour in 2 seconds, Wang said at the event at the carmaker’s headquarters in Shenzhen.

The first models to get the ultra-fast charging will be the Han L and the Tang L sport utility vehicle. They’ll start at 270,000 yuan ($58,593) and 280,000 yuan, respectively, and will be sold from April. BYD will build more than 4000 charging stations designed to accommodate the new technology.

This is BYD “elevating the game to another dimension”, said Lei Xing, an independent China auto analyst.

BYD has had a stellar start to 2025. The company, which only makes hybrid and fully electric cars, sold more than 318,000 passenger vehicles last month, up 161 per cent from a year earlier. It’s the top carmaker in China, the world’s biggest auto market, with a share approaching 15 per cent.

An advanced EV powertrain could further boost demand for BYD’s next-generation cars, said Joanna Chen, a China autos analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.

“This could mark the beginning of a new wave of model rollouts, propelling BYD’s battery-electric vehicle sales to catch up with hybrids after they fell behind in 2024,” she said.

BYD is also starting to set the pace in advanced driver-assistance technology. The company earlier this year said that it’s taking this to the masses by including features such as lane-keeping and adaptive cruise control in some of its cheapest models.

BYD’s Super e-Platform may also pose a competitive threat to Contemporary Amperex Technology, currently the world’s largest manufacturer of EV batteries. Li Auto, for example, is using one of CATL’s latest-generation batteries to enable charging that gives 500 kilometres of range in 12 minutes.

—With assistance from Stefan Nicola.

Bloomberg L.P.

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