BYD electric vehicles on display outside a dealership in Bristol, England. (Photo credit: Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
A Chinese car maker has created a battery that allows electric vehicles to charge almost as quickly as filling a traditional car's gas tank.
The new battery, called e-platform, was developed by Chinese company BYD, which is overtaking Tesla to become the world leader in electric vehicle sales.
With a 10C rating — meaning the battery can accept a charge at ten times its standard capacity — the e-platform can reach a full charge in just six minutes. With a peak charging power of 1,000 kilowatts, the battery’s charging speed is twice as fast as Tesla’s 500-kilowatt superchargers. That means two new models using the battery — BYD’s Han L sedan and Tang L SUV — can travel up to 250 miles (400 kilometers) on just five minutes of charging.
“We aim to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refueling time of gasoline cars,” BYD founder Wang Chuanfu said at a launch event in Shenzhen, China. “This is the first time in the industry that a megawatt-sized unit of charging power has been achieved.”
To charge at such high speeds, the electronic platform simultaneously generates high voltage and delivers significant current to the vehicle being charged. However, high currents can also generate heat, which can damage the batteries in an electric vehicle.
To address this issue, BYD says it has significantly reduced the internal resistance in the battery. The company's new silicon carbide power chips are also designed to operate at higher voltages.
To make it easier for vehicles to start up, BYD has announced plans to install a network of 4,000 Flash charging stations across China. The technology is currently only available in China, and the company has not yet confirmed whether it will be available internationally.
TOPICS China
Ben TurnerNavigate Social LinksSenior Staff Writer
Ben Turner is a staff writer for Live Science based in the UK. He covers physics and astronomy, as well as other topics such as technology and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before becoming a journalist. When he’s not writing, Ben enjoys reading literature, playing guitar, and embarrassing himself at chess.
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