By Electric vehicle manufacturer BYD have just demonstrated their FLASH charging system for the first time in the UK.
This could be something of a game-changer. As we all know, one of the main disadvantages of electric vehicles is the time it takes to re-charge. Despite improved charging systems, you simply can’t pull into a service station and fill up your car in two minutes, as you can with a petrol or diesel car.
Well, this new charging system comes close.
BYD’s strapline is: ‘Ready in 5, Full in 9, Cold Add 3‘
In conjunction with the latest Blade Battery 2.0, FLASH Charging enables delivery of up to 1500kW through a single connector.
‘Ready in 5, Full in 9, Cold Add 3’ means the battery charge can be increased from 5% to 70% (‘Ready’) in just five minutes, a 10-97% charge (‘Full’) in nine minutes, and a 20-97% charge, at -30°C in just 12 minutes (‘Add 3’).
So yes, they are tinkering with the start line there (from 5, 10, 20% charged already) but it’s still pretty quick. If you compare the 5 – 70% charge in 5 mins, to pulling up at the petrol pump, spending 2 minutes filling up your tank and then another three minutes to queue and pay at the desk (and buy that Yorkie bar!), there’s really not much in it (the FLASH charger will have taken your payment at the”pump”).
This week, BYD demonstrated its FLASH charging technology to invited members of the press, industry and VIP guests at its UK HQ in Uxbridge – the first demonstration of the technology in the UK. They used a the DENZA Z9 GT – the first vehicle coming to the UK market capable of accepting FLASH Charging. DENZA is BYD’s luxury sub brand.
Based on its max range (WLTP Combined*) of 372 miles, a five-minute charge can add 223 miles of range and a nine-minute charge adds 323 miles.
FLASH Charging demands no more significant infrastructure from the grid than any other existing electric vehicle charger. Energy for charging vehicles is supplied by on-site battery storage, whose charge is gradually topped at all times of day when required – from as little as 100kW but and as much as 560kW, depending on demand. 300 chargers are planned to be installed, at DENZA stores and other locations, by the end of 2026.
* WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) Combined range is the official, standardised metric used to estimate how far an electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid can travel on a single battery charge.
