While electric cars might appeal to eco-conscious commuters, the fear of running out of charge before your destination is a big turn-off for many.
But now, the Chinese EV maker BYD claims its latest vehicles will bring an end to ‘range anxiety’.
BYD says its new charging system, dubbed the ‘Super-E Platform’, can enable a car to travel 250 miles (400km) after just five minutes of charging.
This 1,000-kilowatt (kW) charger – twice as powerful as the rival Tesla Supercharger – can recharge an EV battery in the same time it takes to fill a petrol car with fuel.
Last year, BYD was the world’s second largest manufacturer of battery-powered electric vehicles only just behind Elon Musk’s Tesla.
However, this latest innovation could catapult the Chinese company into the top position by tempting buyers reluctant to give up their conventional petrol cars.
BYD founder Wang Chuanfu, often described as China’s Elon Musk, said at a launch event in Shenzhen, China that the company’s new cars would achieve ‘oil-electric parity’ for refuelling.
Mr Wang added: ‘In order to completely solve our users’ charging anxiety, we have been pursuing a goal to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refuelling time of petrol vehicles.’
Chinese car manufacturer BYD says its new charging system is capable of giving a car 250 miles (400km) after just five minutes of charging
New BYD Han and Tang are the first models to move onto the new charging system, dubbed the ‘Super-E Platform’
According to BYD, the new ultra-fast charging technology will initially be available in two new vehicles, the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV, which were launched this year.
Both the Han L sedan and the Tang L SUV start slightly cheaper than the average price of an EV in the UK, costing between 270,000 and 350,000 yuan ($37,300-$48,350 or £28,700-£37,300).
The company claims these cars’ new battery architecture will allow drivers to add up to 1.20mile (2km) of range for every second of charging at peak rates.
Officially rated as ’10C’, this means the vehicles can fully charge within a tenth of an hour, or six minutes.
Charging so fast requires transferring a lot of electrical power, which means creating a very high voltage and a very large current at the same time.
The biggest barrier to increasing charging power is that big currents create a lot of heat which can be dangerous when it builds up in a large battery.
To get around this problem, BYD says it has managed to reduce the internal resistance of the battery, meaning that the battery creates less heat when currents pass through it.
Additionally, the company says it has created new silicon carbide power chips, which will be able to withstand the higher voltages.
BYD says the new charging capability will be available on the new Han L sedan (left) and Tang L SUV (right) which were revealed earlier this year. BYD’s new charging system provides 1,000 kilowatts (kW) of power, offering two kilometres of range per second
BYD founder Wang Chuanfu unveiled the technology at a launch event in Shenzhen, China
Mr Chuanfu (pictured), often described as China’s Elon Musk, said that the company’s new cars would achieve ‘oil-electric parity’ for refuelling
In a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, translated via Google Translate, the company says: ‘BYD officially releases flash charging battery with ultra-high voltage of 1000V, ultra-large current of 1000A and ultra-large power of 1000kW.’
Speaking at the launch event Mr Wang added: ‘This is the first time in the industry that the unit of megawatt has been achieved on charging power.’
This power level doubles or even triples the capacity of most charging systems available in the UK and the US.
Tesla’s latest generation of Superchargers are capable of hitting 500 kW, but the vast majority of older Superchargers top out between 250 and 400 kW.
Most of Tesla’s Superchargers in the UK provide enough charge to drive 172 miles (277km) after 15 minutes of charging.
BYD says it plans to install a network of 4,000 ‘flash-charging stations’ across China.
More powerful charging stations require direct access to the electrical grid as well as specialised cooling systems to prevent overheating.
This means the new flash-charging network may also require the creation of more infrastructure including the construction of additional sub-stations and transformers.
Most Tesla Superchargers – the electric vehicle fast charging network – only provide between 250 and 400 kW of power
After the news of BYD’s innovation broke on Tuesday, Tesla’s stock fell by 5.5 per cent. This adds to a 44 per cent decline in valuation during 2025 as investors fret over CEO Elon Musk’s (left) alliance with Donald Trump (right)
However, BYD has not provided any information about when these stations might be constructed or how it plans to finance their construction.
Likewise, BYD says that the technology will initially only be available within China and has not confirmed whether it has plans to install flash-chargers elsewhere.
Faster charging and better range have been seen by many industry analysts as the key to switching from cars with internal combustion engines, which emit pollutants.
In a 2024 survey, management consulting firm McKinsey & Company found that 40 per cent of prospective EV buyers wanted to get more than 400 miles on a single charge – roughly the average range a petrol car can travel on a single tank of fuel.
Likewise, 42 per cent of respondents said that charging speed is their most important consideration.
Of those people, 60 per cent said they wanted charging times of 30 minutes or less.
The news of BYD’s breakthrough was well received by international markets and may help BYD beat out its rival Tesla in the long term.
After the announcement, BYD’s stock jumped to a record high, climbing 4.1 per cent on Tuesday to hit a price of 408.80 Hong Kong dollars ($52.59) on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s share price dropped by 5.5 per cent on Tuesday, compounding a further 4.8 per cent slump on Monday.
In total, Tesla’s valuation has tumbled by 44 per cent during 2025 as investors fret over CEO Elon Musk’s high-profile alliance with Donald Trump.
Since Trump’s election, the carmaker has seen more than $800 billion (£617bn) wiped from its stock market valuation.
WHAT ARE TESLA SUPERCHARGERS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?
Tesla has created a Supercharger network around the world that allows its electric vehicles to power up for long distance travel.
Prices of using the service vary across the world, and they can be found here.
To charge a Tesla, drivers park and plug in their vehicle using the connector at the Supercharger post.
Tesla has created a Supercharger network around the world that allows its electric vehicles to power up for long distance travel
Once plugged in, the vehicle’s charge port will flash green to indicate that charging has started.
Drivers can monitor charging progress on your instrument panel or Tesla App.
The chargers allow Tesla owners to recharge their cars to 80 per cent within half an hour.
The firm currently has more than 2,500 Supercharger Stations with 25,000 Superchargers across the globe.
