BYD announced the installation of 10,000 stations from its “Flash Charging” ultra-fast charging system, with a capacity of up to 1.5 megawatts, about five months after beginning to deploy the technology. The figure represents half of the target the company set in March, when it announced plans to reach 20,000 stations within China by the end of 2026.
A Network Expanding Alongside Faster Batteries
The move comes alongside the Blade 2.0 battery, which BYD says can go from 10% to 70% charge in five minutes, or from 10% to 97% in nine minutes. These figures require infrastructure capable of actually supplying power at high rates, rather than relying on a fast-charging battery alone.
BYD’s network currently covers 325 Chinese cities. The company aims to establish 18,000 chargers in cities and 2,000 chargers on highways by the end of the year. A ceremony to open the 10,000th station in China is scheduled for August 28, 2026, according to the source material.
Partnership With Sinopec and Expansion Outside China
BYD is carrying out part of this rollout in cooperation with Sinopec, the state-owned Chinese oil company, with some chargers being installed beside selected Sinopec stations. Shanghai saw the opening of one of these joint sites this month.
The plan is not limited to the Chinese market; BYD has announced the allocation of 3,000 stations to Europe and another 3,000 stations to markets outside it. The first of these stations outside China opened in June, but the source does not specify a detailed timeline for the remaining expansion or the countries that will receive them.
Why Does This News Matter?
The most important development here is not merely the announcement of a high-capacity charger, but the speed at which it is being turned into a broad network. BYD said in March that it was targeting 20,000 stations, then announced that it had 5,000 stations on April 1, before doubling the number to 10,000 in a short period. If the current deployment rate continues, the company appears to be close to achieving its year-end target, although the original figure was ambitious when it was announced.
In practical terms, the spread of these stations could narrow the gap between charging time and vehicles’ ability to make use of it, particularly for users who drive long distances. However, actual utilization will remain linked to the vehicle and battery’s compatibility with 1.5-megawatt capacity, as well as the electrical sites’ ability to supply this level of power; the source provides no details on the number of vehicles that can use the full rate or on the cost of building and operating the stations.
A Limited Comparison With the United States
The article notes that there is currently no announced plan to bring BYD’s ultra-fast technology to the United States. It compares this with Tesla’s network, which has about 38,000 charging ports after 14 years of Supercharger deployment, with the company having recently moved to 500-kilowatt V4 chargers. The source also states that U.S. public charging programs, which were allocated billions of dollars in 2021, are facing slow implementation, without this article providing an independent assessment of the reasons for the delay.