Is BYD’s five-minute ‘Super-E Platform’ technology feasible?

BYD’s ascent towards total EV supremacy appears to be nearly complete. The Chinese EV maker which surpassed Tesla last year as the world’s highest-selling EV maker has just unveiled a new EV charging technology that makes even the Tesla Supercharger’s charging pace seem glacial in comparison.

BYD has revealed that its new technology, dubbed “Super-E platform” can provide a full charge of its latest EVs in five-to-eight minutes: essentially not much longer than it would take to tank-up a petrol-powered automobile. The technology isn’t just limited to small capacity batteries; it can provide upwards 400 km of charge in that duration.

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A potential gamechanger

At the moment, the chief beneficiaries of this technology are BYD’s Chinese customers. The EV giant plans to build 4000 of these “Super-E” chargers across China’s landscape. At the heart of this platform is the Blade battery, a recent innovation that uses lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry. With a 10C charging multiplier, it can absorb energy quickly while maintaining both safety and efficiency. Its high C-rate directly enhances charging speed, allowing it to sustain charging power of up to 600 kW, even when the battery is at 90 percent capacity.

This network is designed to complement the ultra-fast charging capabilities of vehicles built on the Super e-Platform, including the upgraded Han L sedan and Tang L SUV. Both models are equipped with high-revving motors, with the rear motor spinning at an impressive 30,511 rpm — the highest for any mass-produced electric motor to date. Thanks to their combined power output, the Han L accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.7 seconds, while the Tang L achieves the same speed in 3.6 seconds.

Charging times have been a major impediment in the widespread adoption of EVs. Despite the increasing capacity of fast chargers and improved fast-charging capabilities of EV batteries, nothing has come quite as close to matching the near instantaneous ability to tank-up an ICE powered car. At a time when European and American carmakers are backtracking on their EV making plans for a variety of reasons, BYD’s new slew of megawatt chargers address a key issue ailing the EV ecosystem.

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With such rapid charging becoming prevalent across the globe, EVs would be considered far more highway capable than they are at present, negating the need for hybrids as a stop-gap measure since a major bugbear of EV ownership would have been consummately addressed.

How does it work?

At the moment only two of BYD’s cars have the kind of batteries required to take-in such a massive charge, a 1000 kW to be precise. In comparison, the average DC fast charger in India, provided by Tata Power, is capable of providing upto 30 kW only while a Tesla Supercharger can provide upto 500 kW of charge. The Super E platform then is the first megawatt fast charging technology in the world. The technology also comes with improved, high-power electric motors, high-volt silicon carbide power chips and fast chargers that are capable of providing 1000 kW of charge.

What’s the downside?

While there is no data at present on how consistent fast charging might affect battery longevity or whether BYD’s new batteries have been modified to endure such rapid charging, the general consensus thus far is that consistent rapid charging does come at the cost of gradual battery degradation. However, BYD’s Blade technology does incorporate LFP batteries which have proven more resilient to temperature extremities.

It also remains to be seen in what capacity these chargers can be deployed across the world and which countries are capable of accommodating the load to their electric grids. China already remains bullish on EVs and is predominantly an EV-dominated market, however such megawatt charging systems can put pressure on even the most state-of-the-art power grids across the world.

For a country like India, whose electricity is entirely dependent on coal, the environmental implications of such charging systems, however far down the line they may be, aren’t entirely positive. BYD has stated that its charging systems would be accompanied by large energy storage systems, however this would add to the overall cost of charging.

Although the per-unit electricity price proposition, in India, remains cheaper than per litre of petrol, the additional cost of charging via a megawatt charging system could prove expensive, and best left to service expansive highway networks only.

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The Super-E platform also does not address the more prevalent issue of home charging, which remains one of the key impediments to EV adoption, particularly in India’s metropolitan hubs where individual dedicated parking slots with access to AC chargers remain scarce. At present, all manner of battery chemistries are best served with consistent AC charging, as frequent DC charging and the accompanying inflow of heat that comes with rapid charging, has proven to degrade lithium-ion batteries over time.