Chinese EV Maker BYD Says It Can Now Charge its Cars in Just 5-8 minutes.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD claims that its new vehicles can be charged in about the same amount of time as filling up a gas-powered vehicle at the pump, providing the leading EV vendor in the world a significant edge in a fiercely competitive industry.
According to BYD, which intends to construct 4,000 additional charging stations around China, its new 1 megawatt flash chargers can power cars in five to eight minutes.
Long charging durations and “range anxiety” related to a lack of charging stations are frequently the reasons why drivers are reluctant to convert to electric vehicles. In five minutes, BYD claims that its new chargers can recharge cars for around 250 kilometers.
Due to Elon Musk’s appointment as the director of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in the Trump administration, some EV enthusiasts have lost faith in the company. For the first time in almost ten years, Tesla’s yearly sales fell in 2024, falling 1.1%.
A government expert on the “slash-and-burn exercise” between Elon Musk and Google.
In an effort to disassociate themselves from Musk, several liberal consumers claim to have sold their Teslas, and investors have voiced worries that Musk’s political activities are harming the company’s reputation. Under the billionaire’s leadership, DOGE has fired hundreds of federal employees without warning, generating chaos in several departments.
Last week, Tesla executives warned that President Trump’s international trade policies might hurt American EV manufacturers in an unsigned letter to the U.S. trade representative. The business expressed fear about retaliatory tariffs against the United States, which would increase the cost of Tesla automobiles and perhaps reduce demand abroad.
Tesla is under increased investor pressure to manufacture autonomous vehicles, something Musk has promised but hasn’t done for almost 10 years, in addition to missing sales projections. Additionally, it is up against more reasonably priced EV versions, such as those made by BYD and other Chinese firms.
Following a 4.8% drop on Monday, Tesla’s share price fell 5.5% on Tuesday. Due to investors’ concerns about dwindling sales and the potential harm to Tesla’s reputation from Musk’s close ties to Trump, the company’s worth has dropped 44% so far in 2025.
To enable the quick charging, BYD also said that it will set up a network of 4,000 of its own “flash-charging stations” around China, copying Tesla. The business did not state how long it would take or how much it would cost to construct these facilities. Up until now, BYD owners have mostly depended on public charging stations operated by outside operators or charging stations owned by other manufacturers.
“We have been working towards the goal of making the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refueling time of petrol vehicles in order to fully alleviate our users’ charging anxiety,” Wang stated. “This is the first time in the industry that the charging power unit has been reached in megawatts.”
Starting at 270,000 yuan ($37,330), the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV are the two new EVs that will first be equipped with the new charging design.
Since 2014, Tesla has made its superchargers available in China, while BYD’s smaller Chinese competitors, including Nio, Li Auto, Xpeng, and Zeekr, have also made significant investments and constructed charging stations for several years.