The Chinese BYD car maker made the waves this week when he announced that his new sedan Han L could add up to 248 miles of just five minutes.
Unfortunately, the company was light in the details and did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for clarification. Instead, we have cleaned the web for information, filling in the gaps to determine exactly how BYD was able to make an EV that can obviously recharge as fast as it takes to refill a gas car.
What we found mainly supports car claims, with some warnings.
Battery
Central to rapidly charge Han L is its internal electrical infrastructure. Starts with the battery, which according to Carnewschina reporting regulatory documents is an 83.2 kWh lithium-lithium (LFP) package operating in 945 Volts. (In marketing material, the company appears to have been rounded up and quotes it in 1,000 volts).
Battery chemistry is probably a central element of the car charging capacity. LFP batteries have long been considered for their stability and safety. They do not get a fire almost as easy as other types as the nickel cobalt (NMC). They can also charge faster due to certain electrochemical quirks that are inherent in the design of a LFP cell. (There is wonderful skid From the National Laboratory of Renewable Energy Sources explaining why in more detail.)
To overcome it, BYD has been working with LFP for years and the latest battery architecture, known as Blade 2.0, is expected to debut in the new car. This experience has probably given company engineers a good feeling of how far they can push both batteries and electric architecture.
Electrical system
The battery package is a high -voltage electric system that operates in 945 volts. Automotives are pursuing higher trends because higher trends create less heat, allowing more power to be delivered safely and efficiently. Currently, Lucid manages a 900 Volt architecture in its cars and many others such as Hyundai Kia and Porsche operate 800-volt in many of their own. With Teslas, it depends on the vehicle: Cybertruck uses an 800 volt architecture while the rest works in about 400 volts, gives or takes, depending on the model.
Add everything and Han L can charge up to 1 megawatt, or 1,000 kW. The most widely available EV chargers in the US today only deliver 350 kilowatts.
But even when running in 945 volts or 1,000 volts, the amount of heat generated by 1 Megawatt charge is important and the cables to support it should be incredibly thick. Even sooner, quickly, chargers such as those connected to 350 kW chargers are wrapped in liquid cooling, further increasing their volume.
Perhaps in an attempt to make the charging cables more user -friendly, BYD has adopted what calls a double firearm approach: the car has two charging ports, each of which can be connected to a 500 kW charger at the same time.
Together, they deliver 1 megawatt.
Spectrum of shenanigans
According to BYD, this allows the car to add 248 miles (400 km) in five minutes.
Unfortunately, drivers are unlikely to travel so long after such a quick charge. This is due to the fact that the Chinese equivalent of the EPA test cycle, CLTC, is known optimistic. Is about 35% higher than EPA ratings, according to In insideevs, which are either on the spot or optimistic depending on how much driving on the highway is involved.
Realistically, drivers may probably expect about 160 miles wavy the wave ranges from five minutes and about 280 miles from a complete battery. For a comparison of more apples in apples, it is useful to consider how long it takes to be charged from 16% to 80% (10 minutes) or from 16% to 100% (24 minutes). No matter how you cut it, this is very fast.
Charging strategy
But EV’s charging speed is only as good as chargers and how widely available they are. To this end, BYD is committed to installing more than 4,000 of them throughout China. Each charging station will require significant grid upgrades, however, as a 1 megawatt tie could probably accelerate the existing infrastructure.
When will we see it in the US? Don’t count on being able to buy a byd han l anytime soon, even if the starting price of about $ 37,000 would give the market a welcome stroke. Chinese EVs are currently subject to a 100%invoice, increasing prices to the point where they are not competitive.
But this does not mean similarly fast charging will remain far away for Americans. Cars for sale today can already charge from 20 to 80% to 18 minutes, so it’s just a matter of time before automakers carry those times down.
