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    Chinese firm BYD says it will build 2,000 5-minute fast charger stations across Europe in 2026; at 1.5mW each, they will be 5 times more powerful than most existing chargers.
    Futurology

    Chinese firm BYD says it will build 2,000 5-minute fast charger stations across Europe in 2026; at 1.5mW each, they will be 5 times more powerful than most existing chargers.


    "In China, BYD is currently building 4,000 1.5mW charging stations across the country, with plans to roll out 20,000 by the end of this year.

    Although not quite as ambitious, a BYD spokesperson for the European side of the business told me that the company is targeting 2,000 1.5mW Flash Charging stations across Europe before 2026 comes to a close."

    I'm fascinated by the economics of this. How does BYD make money on this? Do they run the chargers at a profit? How much will this work out per km for drivers compared to diesel or gasoline?

    People think of BYD as a budget car marker, but this to support its luxury brand Denza. The Denza Z9 GT EV has a range of 1,036 km (644 miles) on these chargers. I'm guessing having the best charagers is going to be seen as premium/luxury too.

    'Ready in 5, full in 9' — this Chinese EV charges to 70% in only 5 minutes, has a 644-mile range, and it's coming to Europe in April

    Chinese firm BYD says it will build 2,000 5-minute fast charger stations across Europe in 2026; at 1.5mW each, they will be 5 times more powerful than most existing chargers.
    byu/lughnasadh inFuturology

    View 19 Comments

    19 Comments

    1. NoFastpathNoParty on

      > at 1.5mW each, they will be 5 times more powerful than most existing chargers.

      mW = milliwatt, you meant MW = megawatt

    3. fattybunter on

      BYD is a critical asset of the CCP. It would be nice if they made money but their goal is to grow

    5. Sialala on

      Good luck with that in rural Ireland where even ESB struggles to put 50kW chargers in place.

    6. Strachmed on

      I suppose it will be convenient from speed perspective, but i expect the pricing will be such that i won’t ever use them

    7. Novariku on

      Ok yeah cool but absolutely no car can receive this power as of now (except some rare ones) so please car manufacturers stop doing max 150 kw of charge acceptance

    8. macholusitano on

      Now THAT is what I’m talking about. If they invest in infrastructure, it could change the game for Chinese brand reputation.

    10. iceyed913 on

      Guess they will also be installing CCTV and paying for some high grade security services because those fucking cables get cut and stolen all the time. The faster the charger, the more copper in the cable.

    11. Mega__Maniac on

      At a guess:

      China knows it is well positioned to disrupt the car markets across Europe with EVs. The big European brands are lagging behind and have huge systems that are built around internal combustion.

      One of the main hurdles to EV adoption is the “time at pump” worry. Especially as a huge amount of EU households don’t have drives to charge at home.

      BYD and other major Chinese manufacturers are supported by the CCP so they can do exactly this kinda thing – drive Chinese sales abroad. The economic incentive is that if charging becomes easy then more people will want electric cars, and the EU manufacturers can’t compete without huge tariffs. This will place China as one of the major suppliers of the worlds vehicles.

      This is at a time when most EU economies are struggling. EU leaders have to find a balance between protecting their car industries and allowing their citizens to purchase affordable green cars. Placing tariffs that stop their less well-off citizens affording cars that will help them achieve climate goals is not an easy decision to make.

      TL/DR: Better charging infrastructure will sell electric cars. BYD/China is well placed to be the manufacturer of those cars.

    12. yyytobyyy on

      There is so much marketing about this. BYD cars sold in Europe have subpar charging speeds.

      It feels like a big “brand recognition project” that will end up with few demos and nothing substantial.

    13. Crashtestdummy87 on

      I like the battery swapping of NIO more. I think it’s less likely to explode in a ball of lightning and it doesn’t require high voltage electricity network

    14. NLF7 on

      Isn’t fast charging bad for your battery though? Shouldn’t the focus be on better storage rather than quicker charging?

    15. rovirob on

      How do they make money on this you say?

      Well…they’re eating losses now a lot I think, until they capture the market and corner the European competition (look at the new announcement from Mercedes…that BYD will be making cars for them – it’s slowly happening).

      Then they will increase prices, have a monopoly going on, and that’s when they’ll squeeze the fuck out of European consumers. The individual states and the EU commission are too dumb or too corrupt to see this happening and let it happen.

    17. RLewis8888 on

      When is the rest of the world going to learn that coal and oil are the way to go?
      – MAGA, sitting in an Amish restaurant.

    19. yekis on

      Something is off here: In no world they are building 2000 of these in 9 months left of 2026.
      Just getting the permissions and agreements with the grid providers will take longer, if there is even the grid capacity availableÂ