Chinese automaker Byd announced this week that its new Han L Sedan could add 248 miles of range in just five minutes.
Unfortunately, the company has some knowledge of the details and has not responded to TechCrunch’s clarification request. So instead, we have searched the network for information, filling the gaps to determine how Byd makes an electric car that can obviously be charged as quickly as a refill.
What we found to be the main support robot claims are some warnings.
Battery pack
The center of Hanl’s fast charging is its internal electrical infrastructure. It starts with the battery according to For Carnewschina, the 83.2 kWh lithium lithium phosphate (LFP) package that operates at 945 volts. (In its marketing materials, the company appears to have rounded up and listed at 1,000 volts).
Battery chemistry may be at the heart of the fast charging capability of a car. LFP batteries have long been considered for their stability and safety. They are hardly as prone to fire as Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC). They can also be charged faster due to certain electrochemical quirks inherent in the cathode shaft design of LFP batteries. (There is a great one Slide Deck From the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which explains the reasons in more detail. )
On top of that, BYD has been working with LFP for years, and its latest battery architecture, called Blade 2.0, is expected to debut in the new car. This experience may give the company’s engineers a good idea of how far they can drive the battery and electrical architecture.
Electrical system
The feed battery pack is a high voltage electrical system with a operating capacity of 945 volts. Automakers have been pursuing higher voltages because higher voltages produce less heat, which can safely and effectively transfer more electricity. Currently, Lucid runs a 900-volt building in its cars, while several others, such as Hyundai Kia and Porsche, run 800-volts in many of its cars. Using Tesla, it depends on the vehicle: Seberak uses an 800 volt structure, while the rest is at about 400 volts (about 400 volts), given or adopted depending on the model.
Add it all, Han L can charge up to 1 MW, i.e. 1,000 KW. The fastest EV charger available in the U.S. today is available in just 350 kW.
However, even when running at 945 volts or 1,000 volts, the heat generated by a 1 MW charging is obvious and the cables supported must be very thick. Even as slow and fast as cables connected to a 350 kW charger, charging cables are wrapped in liquid cooling, further increasing their volume.
Perhaps to make the charging cable easier to manage, Byd adopts the so-called dual-gun method: the car has two charging ports, each of which can be plugged into a 500 kW charger at the same time.
Together they provide one megawatt.
Range prank
According to Byd, this adds the car to a range of 248 miles (400 km) in five minutes.
Unfortunately, after such a quick fee, it is unlikely that the driver will travel. This is because it is well known that China’s equivalent to CLTC is optimistic about the EPA test cycle. It is about 35% higher than the EPA rating, according to For Insideevs, it is on-site or optimistic in itself depending on how much highway driving is involved.
In fact, the driver may expect about 160 miles from a five-minute charge and a range of about 280 miles from the full battery. To do more Apple comparisons, it is helpful to see how long it takes to charge from 16% to 80% (in 10 minutes) or from 16% to 100% (in 24 minutes). No matter how you slice it, it’s very fast.
Charging Strategy
However, electric cars charge only as well as chargers, and they are very usable. To this end, Byd promises to install more than 4,000 more in China. However, every charging station requires a lot of grid upgrades, as the power attraction of 1 MW can damage existing infrastructure.
When did we see this in the United States? Even if the starting price of about $37,000 will bring a welcome shock to the market, don’t expect to buy Byd Han L as soon as possible. Currently, electric vehicles made in China are subject to 100% tariffs, raising prices to non-competitive.
But that doesn’t mean that similar fast charging will make it impossible for Americans to achieve. Cars for sale today can already charge 20% to 80% in 18 minutes, so it’s only a matter of time before automakers put those times down.
