Just a year ago I was in China and I was overcome with skepticism, I won’t deny it. BYD presented us with the 1 MW chargers. Chargers capable of 1,000 kW that seemed to come from the future. Then I already said that the experience had changed my mind.
Now BYD has made another promise on which an important part of its future strategy is based.
Skepticism. I’m glad I was wrong. It is something that one learns if one wants to be minimally critical of companies. And the companies and their communication teams, doing their job, flood us with promises that do not always come to fruition but that fill headlines.
The 1 MW load was not one of them. It is one thing that, although it may seem silly to see an electric car (simply) charging, one has to experience for oneself. And it is amazing to see how the battery graph fills up at a devilish rate and, indeed, we have hundreds of kilometers again just after five minutes.
Personally, it’s something I assumed would be full of asterisks and fine print. A “always complies except in this specific case.” But the truth is that it worked.
The new promise. What BYD assures now is that the company will have ready between 300 1,500 kW charging posts by the end of 2027 in our country. That is, the 1 MW, 1,000 kW charger is a thing of the past. BYD will increase its power until it becomes almost ridiculous.
The company has given a demonstration these days in Madrid. When we tested the 1,000 kW recharge we confirmed that the power dropped after 80% filling. With the 1,500 kW chargers, the battery goes from 10 to 97% in nine minutes. Nine minutes. It is faster (or there is hardly any difference) than filling the gas tank and paying at the cashier.
How is it possible? With cars prepared for it, of course. And this expansion of ultra-fast chargers comes with the landing of Denza. The company already has a sports sedan for sale called Denza Z9 GT in plug-in hybrid and electric format. The latter is capable of assimilating the burst of power from these chargers.
It is, in fact, the only car on the market in our country that can get the most out of BYD chargers. The great incentive to pay just over 100,000 euros For this car it is precisely that: that traveling in an electric car at a good pace is no different from doing so with a gasoline car.
In terms of infrastructure, the charger has its own backup station. A few meters from the cable there are batteries stored stacked in a kind of small warehouse that support the electricity supply when it does not have enough power on its own.
Is there much difference? It depends on the point of view. If we go to the purely technical, yes, there is a lot of difference. Right now, the vast majority of the most powerful chargers in Spain move around 350 kW of power. The cars that can get the most out of it move around these figures or, in the best of cases, assimilate 500 kW of power. That is to say, The Denza Z9 GT and the BYD chargers multiply these figures by several magnitudes.
However, charging a car with a huge 100 kW battery at 350 kW means going from 10 to 80% of the available range in about 15 minutes. That is, if the car can travel 500 kilometers with said battery (assuming a consumption of 20 kWh/100 km) we will go from having 50 kilometers to 400 kilometers available in a quarter of an hour. It doesn’t seem like too much and on long trips they are recommended breaks.
And does it make sense? Much more than the data says. For several reasons:
- BYD is positioned as a leader in this technology in our country. Only if you buy a BYD can you carry this power. This generates a feeling of belonging and improves the brand image.
- BYD presents a technology that, in reality, overestimates our needs but gives security to the electric car skeptic. The customer may never use it but knows it is available.
And it will go further. Much of what changed my opinion about these chargers was the performance that could be obtained from the company. BYD assures that it will maintain a price of 0.50 euros/kWh loaded. That is, a 100 kW charge will cost 50 euros. It seems like a lot but it means that traveling 100 kilometers will cost about 10 euros. Compared to a gasoline car that consumes 6 l/100 kilometers on the road, there is hardly any difference.
But, above all, it is interesting because these charges promise to be key when it comes to recharge electric trucks that need enormous charging powers if they want to reduce downtime. There, BYD is gaining ground and is positioning itself as one of the companies that will already be there when this type of vehicles multiply.
Copying Tesla. BYD’s strategy is very similar to the one Tesla deployed in its day. The American company put cars on the market with very green technology and that used their own chargers to operate. This allowed them to position themselves as the leading company and create a brand image and community. They still receive the fruits of that today..
BYD is doing something very similar when the market is already more mature. If you want these charging powers, only the Chinese company offers them to you right now. It is a smart move to gain brand image and trust among skeptics of electric cars and Chinese cars. And, for the same price, they can position themselves as a key company in the deployment of heavy electric vehicles.
Photo | Hector Ares for Motorpassion
In Xataka | Spain has been filled with charging points for electric cars. The problem is that we are not using them
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