BYD Reveals 1,000-kW Charging, Twice As Fast As Tesla's Newest Supercharger

Skeptics often tout their dread of potentially spending hours tethered to a charging station as a deterrent from ever buying an electric vehicle. Those concerns might be a thing of the past as BYD revealed its new vehicle platform capable of 1,000-kW charging speeds on Monday. The lightning-fast speeds are twice as fast as Tesla's fourth-generation Supercharger cabinet launched earlier this year, and far beyond the 350-kW max that other EVs in the U.S. can currently handle. The Chinese automotive giant claims that recharging stops with vehicles built on its new "Super E-Platform" will be more akin to refueling at a gas station.

The Han L sedan and Tang L SUV will be the first EVs built on BYD's new platform, Reuters reports. Both models will start at $37,330, a relatively affordable price. However, just because an electric car can recharge at a certain speed, it doesn't mean that the infrastructure can support it. BYD also stated that it will build over 4,000 stations capable of 1,000 kW charging across China. During the launch event live stream, BYD founder Wang Chuanfu said:

"In order to completely solve our user's charging anxiety, we have been pursuing a goal to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refueling time of petrol vehicles. This is the first time in the industry that the unit of megawatt (charge) has been achieved on charging power."

BYD claims that drivers will be able to charge 249 miles of range in just five minutes. It would drastically change the social dynamic at stations if this level of charging ever reached our shores. It's been evident over the years that the number of charging stations hasn't kept up with the number of EVs on the roads. The issue reached a boiling point in February when a fight broke out between drivers waiting for Tesla Superchargers. The scrap that went viral on social media encouraged Tesla to implement a virtual queue to prevent future heated arguments.

With the impending 25-percent tariff about to wall off the US from the global market, it's unclear if BYD cars will ever be sold here. The Chinese manufacturer dominates its domestic market, selling over 4.2 million cars last year. BYD is quickly becoming a prominent player in the rest of the world. The Chinese automaker controls 84 percent of the electric and hybrid vehicle market in Central and South America. BYD seems destined to become one of the largest manufacturers in the world by just simply building better vehicles than its competitors.