"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' โ this Chinese EV charges to 70% in only 5 minutes, has a 644-mile range, and it's coming to Europe in April
The same way Tesla makes money with their own supercharger network - they sell cars and electric via the chargers.
The reason BYD is building these specific chargers is because their future cars will be able to use them to charge at insane speeds but only if a charger can handle it. Right now most "fast" chargers max out at about 350kW, even the bran d new ones. There's a few omising 400kW or even 500kW but BYD is marketing cars that can do 1000kW.
They need some chargers to exist so they can sell those cars, it's better for them to start building it than waiting years for the rest of the industry to catch up.