BYD Doubles Flash Charger Network to 10,000

BYD has doubled its ultra-fast Flash Charging network to 10,000 stations in just five months, with a third of users driving non-BYD vehicles.

BYD has launched its 10,000th 1.5-megawatt Flash Charging station, doubling the size of its ultra-fast charging network in just five months. The automaker now plans to install 20,000 of these chargers across China by the end of 2026.

The company celebrated its 5,000th charger in April. Reaching 10,000 chargers across more than 300 Chinese cities just five months later marks a ferocious pace of deployment. BYD claims this milestone makes it the Chinese automaker with the largest self-built charging network and the broadest geographical coverage.

Hitting the 20,000-station target by year's end will be a challenge. Since April, BYD has deployed about 34 charging stations per day. To double the network again in the 125 days remaining in the year, it would need to install at least 80 chargers every single day.

Charger Specifications and Performance

These are not standard fast chargers. BYD's Flash Chargers deliver 1.5 megawatts of power through a single cable, more than triple the rating of typical high-powered chargers for consumer EVs in the U.S. They include on-site energy storage to buffer the grid and enable such high power delivery.

The stations feature a novel T-shaped design with rails and sliding cables. BYD says this keeps the plugs off the ground and makes the chargers easier to maneuver. They can charge BYD's newest cars equipped with Blade 2.0 batteries from 10% to 97% state of charge in just nine minutes.

Network Usage and Battery Testing

BYD's own data shows the network delivered 210 gigawatt-hours of power to 1.83 million drivers in its first six months of operation. Notably, 33% of those drivers were charging vehicles from other manufacturers, not BYD. This outsider usage is expected to grow as more EVs become capable of megawatt charging and as BYD expands the network to Europe and Canada.

The company also addressed concerns about ultra-fast charging's impact on battery health. In a recent test, BYD used its Flash Chargers to refill the battery of a Yangwang U7 sedan 350 times over nine days, driving the car 30,000 kilometers in the process. The automaker stated the results were very encouraging for the future of EV batteries.

Source: InsideEVs