Owning an EV is sometimes a bit of a challenge. Unlike a gasoline-powered car that can refuel pretty much anywhere between Fairbanks and Ft. Lauderdale, planning a trip in an electric vehicle – even a quick-charging one like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 – usually requires a fair amount of planning to find a charging location, then potentially some waiting while other EV drivers juice up. But Chinese automaker BYD, which last year teased the idea of a 1,000-kilowatt fast charger, put the theory into practice with its Flash Charge station, seen undergoing internal testing at its headquarters in Shenzen, Guangdong.
Yangwang U8 Premium Edition Side ProfileBYD/Yangwang
Controlling Incredibly High Voltage
According to CarNewsChina, the system is actually capable of supplying electricity at a rate of 1,500 kW, about triple the rate of Tesla’s new Supercharger V4 network that can hit 500 kW when hooked up to a Cybertruck. Put another way, that charging speed could potentially fill a GMC Hummer EV‘s massive, 200-plus-kilowatt-hour battery in less than 10 minutes, a third of the time it sees on 350-kW DC fast chargers. Of course, in order to be able to use a BYD Flash Charge station to its fullest potential, an EV must have a correspondingly robust electrical system.
BYD Sealion 7 Front 3/4, Blue and BlackBYD Auto
Right now, that qualification limits their use to only the latest generation of EVs that feature a 1,000-volt electrical system – the aforementioned Cybertruck and Hummer run on 800 volts instead. The BYD cars that are Flash Charge–compatible include the Seal 07, a midsize EV sedan meant to do battle with the Toyota Camry, and the Porsche-rivaling, opulent Denza Z9 GT. Oher cars in the BYD family that can make use of so-called megacharging will carry a Flash Charge badge on their flanks, reminding owners to plug in at high speed wherever possible.
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Extensive Charging Rollout
In China, BYD plans to push its extremely quick charger to more than 4,000 corporate-operated locations thoughout the nation, enabling most EVs to charge to 97 percent or so in well under 10 minutes. Partner networks could expand megawatt charging stations by nearly four-fold to 15,000. Megawatt charging stations would certainly do a lot to alleviate most EV shoppers’ concerns about just hitting the road and having fun, come what may.
BYD Seal Rear 3/4BYD Auto
We do have bad news for anyone in love with the cheap and cheerful BYD Seagull (also called the Dolphin Surf), the electric hatchback that costs around $10,000 in China. The automaker has only been testing its Flash Charge network using cars that are capable of at least 1,000 kW of DC fast charging. That places the 30-kW Seagull squarely out of luck, as it does for every US-market EV. The Hummer EV and its Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV stablemates only ring the bell at 350 kW, while the Mercedes-Benz CLA with EQ Technology can hit 320 kW.
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We hope that Americans wil consider learning from the Chinese, because this kind of tech would probably eliminate the objections of many potential purchasers. Until then, at least most EVs on our shores can use the practically ubiquitous package that is the Tesla Supercharger NACS connector.
Source: BYDFans via CarNewsChina
