Mint Quick Edit | BYD has leapt ahead on charging speed
Summary
- The Chinese EV maker had already zipped ahead of Elon Musk’s Tesla on sales, but its 5-minute juice-up for a 400km range will give it a sharper edge. It could also attract folks who are impatient with long plug-ins.
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker BYD looks set to extend its global lead over its US-based competitor Tesla. BYD has unveiled a new supercharger that can juice up a car battery within 5 minutes to run for another 400km.
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That blistering pace puts EV charging at par with the time it typically takes to get a refill of conventional fuel at a filling station. This alone could prove a big draw for its EVs. In comparison, Tesla’s superchargers offer a charging speed that’s far less impressive, adding a range of up to 270km in 15 minutes.
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BYD has already overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest EV maker by sales volume. Its investors are delighted, with BYD’s shares listed in Hong Kong rising as much as 6% on Tuesday.
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More broadly, this could be the game-changer EVs need.
If long wait times can be eliminated, car buyers may be more eager to go electric. Of course, charging facilities must come up in plentiful numbers to be able to match the convenience of fossil-fuel refuelling. But that might not be so hard. With a big technology hurdle potentially overcome, we could expect more charging points to sprout. For now, non-Chinese EV manufacturers have a lot of catching up to do.
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