- BYD has put its 5,000th flash charging station into operation, marking a milestone in its charging infrastructure expansion.
- BYD plans to deploy up to 20,000 such fast charging sites in China by the end of this year.
BYD's 5,000th flash charging station has officially commenced operations, signaling that the Chinese NEV giant is accelerating its nationwide charging network expansion strategy.
The milestone site is located in a highway service area in Lanzhou, Gansu province in northwest China, and is also among the first batch of highway flash charging network sites to become operational, according to a statement on Wednesday.
BYD previously announced plans to build 20,000 flash charging stations by the end of this year, which includes about 18,000 commercial sites constructed in collaboration with local charging network operators.
The remaining 2,000 will be highway flash charging stations. BYD plans to deploy one station every 100 kilometers on average along highways in China.
To achieve this target, BYD still needs to build 15,000 flash charging stations, averaging more than 1,600 per month.
For the highway network, BYD plans to complete the first batch of 1,000 highway flash charging stations before this year's May Day holiday.
As of now, BYD's flash charging network has covered 297 cities across China, the company said Wednesday.
These charging facilities offer a maximum single-plug charging power of up to 1,500 kilowatts, considered the highest power mass-produced single-plug fast-charging equipment globally at present.
When paired with BYD's second-generation Blade Battery, a vehicle's charge can be rapidly replenished from 10% to 70% in just five minutes, setting a new charging speed record for the entire industry.
Even in extreme cold environments of minus 30 degrees Celsius, the charging time is only three minutes longer than at room temperature.
BYD officially introduced the new flash chargers alongside the unveiling of its second-generation Blade Battery at a launch event on March 5.
Each flash charger is equipped with two charging plugs and an energy storage system capable of super-fast discharging. Even if two vehicles are charging simultaneously, they can maintain flash-charging speeds, BYD said at the time.
In terms of hardware engineering design, BYD pioneered a sliding-rail suspended structure. This "zero-gravity" charging plug weighs only 2 kilograms, allowing users to easily operate it with one hand.
Notably, these flash charging stations will be open to electric vehicles of other brands, and the company also plans to introduce them to overseas markets by the end of 2026 to realize its global network expansion vision.
