BYD to prepare market launch of 1,000-volt electric vehicles

China's manufacturer BYD is planning to launch a 1,000-volt platform for its premium electric models in order to speed up their charging processes, among other things. The introduction of the new architecture is to be accompanied by an extensive roll-out of corresponding fast-charging stations.

According to Chinese media, BYD plans to present a 1,000-volt system architecture in mid-March. Thanks to this technology, BYD electric vehicles should be able to achieve a charging rate of 5C in future. It is likely that BYD’s two flagship models Han L and Tang L will be based on the new platform first. Both were presented in January and have been extensively revised compared to their predecessors.

The ‘C’ in the charging rate is an indicator of the ratio of battery size to charging capacity. At 1C, an 80 kWh battery can be charged with a maximum of 80 kW. At 4C, the same battery can theoretically be charged with six times the charging capacity, up to 400 kW. The first Chinese electric cars are already being offered with 5C batteries, such as the Li Mega from Li Auto or the current version of the Zeekr 001. Both have batteries from CATL on board, which should theoretically be able to charge up to 500 kilometres in twelve minutes, although the maximum charging power of these batteries should only ever be available for a short time.

However, both CATL and BYD are said to be working on faster-charging batteries for electric cars. According to earlier reports, both manufacturers are working on new generations of their batteries with a charging rate of 6C.

Yesterday, BYD also announced that it had raised billions on the Hong Kong stock exchange, which bodes well for the future of the Chinese automotive giant. The company specified that it intends to invest the funds in research and development, expand its international business and increase its working capital, among other things.

carnewschina.com