BYD and CATL Making Huge Batteries Electric Vehicles Will Charge in 10 Minutes

The biggest problem with electric vehicles has been that they take a lot of time to charge. In such a situation, using EVs for long distances proves to be difficult. But now this problem is going to be solved. Chinese battery giants BYD and CATL are preparing to launch ultra-fast-charging lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which can be fully charged in just 10 minutes.

Battery technology is evolving rapidly. Both EV range and charging speeds have seen significant improvements over the past few years. Upcoming batteries from BYD and CATL aim to minimise charging times. The companies are reportedly set to introduce their ultra-fast-charging LFP batteries by the end of this year, eliminating the need for long charging stops during road trips.

This quick charge time is achieved by the claimed 6C charging rate of the BYD Blade 2.0 and CATL Qilin 2.0 battery packs. Simply put, the “6” indicates that the charging capacity is six times. For example, a 100 ampere-hour battery can be charged at a current of 600 amperes.

However, it is important to upgrade the charging infrastructure to support these speeds. Without updating the charging network, users of vehicles with these advanced batteries will not be able to get the full benefit of their technology and will be limited to slow charging options. It is worth noting that the batteries cannot maintain peak charging speeds throughout the charging cycle. These new batteries are also likely to be accompanied by some strategic marketing, focusing on specific charging windows. Such as charging from 10 percent to 80 percent in 10 minutes. The 2024 Zeekr 001 is a great example with its 5C-rated battery, which takes 11.5 minutes of charge time for this range.

There is no specific information about BYD and CATL’s upcoming 6C battery. However, reports have shown that current DC fast chargers designed for 4C-rated batteries can deliver up to 480 kW of power and a maximum current of 615 amps. Achieving faster charging would require an increase in voltage or amperage.

Slowly, this work is underway. Huawei installed its first 600kW fast charger in China earlier this year. Li Auto, the maker of the Mega minivan that offers a range of 500km in 10 minutes of charge, plans to install 5,000 5C-rated fast chargers by next year. Tesla’s Supercharger network in the US offers up to 250kW of power from its V3 stall. It appears that the future of EV charging is moving towards faster and faster charging times.