Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD has introduced a new battery pack that could dramatically reduce charging times for EVs.
The company says its new Blade Battery 2.0 system can charge from 10 percent to 70 percent in just five minutes, with a full charge taking roughly four minutes more.
If these charging speeds hold up in real-world conditions, they could remove one of the biggest concerns people have about electric vehicles: long charging times compared to gasoline cars. BYD also claims the battery performs well in extreme cold. At temperatures as low as –4°F (–20°C), the battery can reportedly charge from 20 percent to 97 percent in under 12 minutes.
The new battery pack is expected to debut in the Yangwang U7, a full-size luxury electric sedan.
However, there is an important condition. These ultra-fast charging speeds are only possible when the vehicle is connected to BYD’s new Flash Charging EV chargers. These chargers are capable of delivering up to 1.5 megawatts of power, far higher than the charging speeds available at most public stations today.
BYD is likely hoping this new technology will help it stand out in the increasingly competitive electric vehicle market in China. Automakers such as Li Auto, Xpeng, Xiaomi, and Zeekr are rapidly releasing new EV models as competition intensifies.
The Shenzhen-based company has already become the world’s largest EV manufacturer, though it recently experienced a slowdown in sales. BYD reported that its combined sales for January and February 2026 dropped about 36 percent compared with the same period the previous year.
The new Blade Battery 2.0 system uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry. Many automakers favor LFP batteries because they are cheaper to produce, since they do not require expensive metals like cobalt or nickel. According to BloombergNEF, LFP battery packs cost around $81 per kilowatt hour, compared with $128 per kilowatt hour for nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries.
The tradeoff is that LFP batteries are less energy dense, which usually means shorter driving range. Because of this limitation, many Western automakers use LFP batteries mainly in lower-cost electric vehicles. BYD believes that faster charging could offset the lower energy density and make LFP batteries more appealing in premium vehicles.
Before this announcement, BYD had already introduced a 1 megawatt charging system for the Han L sedan. That system used two 500-kilowatt charging cables plugged in at the same time.
In comparison, most fast chargers in the United States and Europe currently deliver up to 350 kilowatts, though some new stations are beginning to support 500 kilowatts.
BYD’s new Flash Charging stations use overhead cable systems that allow the charging cables to reach either side of the vehicle. This design may make charging easier, especially since the cables required for such high power levels can be heavy.
The company said it has already installed about 4,200 Flash Charging stations across China and plans to build around 16,000 more by the end of the year. Some of these stations will also include large grid-scale batteries to reduce stress on the power grid.
The Yangwang U7 sedan equipped with the new battery is expected to offer a range of just over 1,000 kilometers, or about 621 miles, under the China Light Duty Vehicle Test Cycle. This testing standard typically produces higher estimates than real-world driving conditions.
In practical driving conditions, the vehicle would likely achieve just over 400 miles of range on a full charge.
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While that is slightly less than the 512-mile range offered by the Lucid Air Grand Touring under the EPA test cycle, BYD’s ability to add around 240 miles of range in just five minutes could make charging speed a more important advantage than total range.
