- China’s BYD revealed a 1000kW, 1000V charging solution for EVs this week.
- For now the Super E-Platform is limited to two forthcoming EVs and will be exclusive to China.
- The news couldn’t come at a worse time for Tesla which is battling a stock price that is sinking like a stainless-steel clad stone.
On Monday, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD showed off something spectacular. That something is the Super E-Platform that is capable of providing 400km of range with just a five minute charge.
Charging has long been a weight around the neck of electric vehicles and juicing them up can take far longer than topping a fuel tank up. Even Tesla’s 250kW chargers only provide 200km of range on a 15 minute charge.
BYD’s Super E-Platform then is a game changer.
BYD says that two of its new EVs, the Han L and Tang L will take advantage of the new platform and it will be building more than 4 000 ultra-fast charging units across China as reported by Reuters. However, it’s not clear how long this will take nor how much BYD is investing in the technology.
It’s also not immediately clear if BYD intends to push this technology to markets beyond China. The company does sell EVs in Europe and other Asian countries but a 1 000kW charger may be a hard ask for some territories.
However, if BYD is smart they will seize the opportunity that currently lays before them.
Tesla is floundering. Shareholders are selling off their positions given the actions of Elon Musk. Aside from his wielding of a chainsaw on stage at a Conservative conference or that salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration, the billionaire isn’t really focused on his businesses of late.
Musk is, according to his buddy Trump, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, even though he maintains he’s not the head. This agency is tasked with rooting out inefficiencies within the US government and it’s a monumental task. So monumental that in a recent interview Musk noted that he was handling his other businesses “with great difficulty”.
Beyond that, there is a global boycott of Tesla happening especially in Europe and in the US Tesla dealers and owners are the subject of vandalism and protest actions. It also doesn’t help that Cybertruck deliveries had to be halted as parts started coming off of the car.
All of this is making Tesla a very unattractive prospect for investors so much so that The Guardian reports that short-sellers made $16 billion by betting against the EV maker.
BYD could use this turbulent period to expand its market and outpace Tesla in sales and infrastructure, especially in Europe.
Whether the company has such aspirations is an unknown quantity at this stage but if we were Tesla’s board of directors, news of the Super E-Platform would have us worried.
[Image – Lee Rosario from Pixabay]
