Beijing (Reuters)-BYD presented on Monday a new platform for electric vehicles that, according to the company, could charge cars as quickly as fueling in a gas pump, and announced for the first time it would build a charging network throughout China.
The so -called “Electronic Super Platform” will be able to reach 1,000 kilowatt peak loading speeds (KW), allowing the cars that use it to travel 400 kilometers with a 5 -minute load, founder Wang Chuanfi said at a live event from the company’s headquarters in Shenzhen.
1,000 kW loading speeds would be twice as fast than Tesla’s superloaders, whose latest version offers up to 500 kW loading speeds.
Quick charging technology has been critical to increasing the adoption of electric vehicles as it is seen as a way to help respond to the concerns of electric vehicle drivers as the ability to charge their cars quickly.
“To completely resolve the loading anxiety of our users, we aim to make the loading time of electric vehicles as short as the refueling time of gasoline vehicles,” said Wang.
“This is the first time in the sector that the Megawatt Unit (Cargo) has been achieved at loading power,” he said.
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The new loading model will initially be available in two new cars: Han L Sedan and Tang L SUV, priced at 270,000 yuan ($ 37,328), and BYD said it would build more than 4,000 ultra -rare loading units across China to match the new platform.
The company did not specify the deadline or how much would invest in building these facilities. So far, BYD car owners have largely depended on recharging facilities for other automakers or public recharge facilities managed by outsourced operators to load their vehicles.
Tesla has offered its China superloaders since 2014, and smaller Chinese companies, such as Nio, Li Auto, Xpeng and Zeekr, have also invested extensively and built refill facilities for years.
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BYD depends mainly on plug-in hybrids for their sales, which reached 4.2 million units last year. Its goal is to sell from 5 million to 6 million units this year.
