BYD Cars Offer 250 Miles of Range in Just Five Minutes. Mercedes Isn’t Impressed

In mid-March, BYD introduced a new technology that promises 250 miles of range in just five minutes of charge. According to the Chinese automaker, its upcoming models will achieve these impressive charging times by delivering 1 MWh of sustained power.

However, Andrew Cornelia, CEO of Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging and head of the company’s charging systems, recently shrugged off BYD’s latest impressive charging system. In an interview on the Plugged-In Podcast, he explained that the push for this rapid charging is more about instilling confidence in users than its actual practical utility.

Time will tell if BYD EVs can truly recharge 250 miles in five minutes. Notably, the Chinese driving cycle standard used to measure car efficiency is more lenient than the U.S.’ WLTP. It should be noted that the WLTP standard often fails to accurately reflect electric vehicles’ energy consumption at highway speeds of 75-85 mph.

However, given a charging power of 1 MWh, reaching 250 miles of range seems unlikely to take more than five minutes.

Assuming an energy consumption of 20 kWh per 60 miles–which is neither particularly low nor excessively high–reaching 250 miles of real range would require an energy input of 80 kWh. This means a much larger battery would be necessary.

Notably, charging power typically drops considerably when the battery exceeds 80% capacity. This is done to protect against excessive degradation. Usually, the peak charging rate is only achieved after the first 10%. As such, to charge 80 kWh from 10% to 80% capacity, the vehicle would need a battery of around 115 kWh.

Additionally, the charger must be capable of delivering this power continuously throughout the five-minute duration without any performance loss. This would require a charging capability of at least 960 kW, an unprecedented figure in American charging stations.

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Mercedes Says It Doesn’t Make Sense

Cornelia might be right. While the prospect of gaining 250 miles of range in just five minutes sounds appealing, Mercedes argues that the traditional refueling stop for gasoline vehicles averages around 10-12 minutes.

Significant infrastructure is required around each electric vehicle to achieve such rapid charging. BYD will need to implement its own charging stations, and only a select few cars will be able to handle that level of electric power. For context, a Tesla Model Y Juniper can recharge its batteries at a rate of 270 kW (about three times less). Meanwhile, the Porsche Taycan, among the market’s top performers, “only” supports a maximum of 320 kW.

With 320 kW of power, the Porsche Taycan can go from 0% battery to 80% in just 18 minutes. This 80% charge provides a usable capacity of 97 kWh, which should be able to cover 250 miles. Drivers won’t likely arrive at a charging station with a completely empty battery. As such, it’s expected that the Taycan could receive this amount of energy with the right charger in about 15 minutes. According to Mercedes, this hardly differs from the time it takes to pump your own gas.

When it comes to gasoline cars, drivers don’t typically have to wait for the gas station attendant to finish filling their tank. It usually takes less time than it takes you to pay for the service. With EVs, you might have time to use the restroom and stretch your legs while charging, but not much else. It would be truly remarkable if, in that 10-minute break, you could gain a range of 250 miles.

Still, Mercedes places significant importance on the development of rapid charging technology. “This is an amazing breakthrough. The industry will follow,” Cornelia said. However, he pointed out that there are only a “limited number of use cases” where such fast charging truly makes sense. “If you show up at a movie theater, you still don’t need 1,000-kilowatt charging. You need something that matches a two-hour dwell time. If you show up at a coffee shop, maybe you want something faster, but still it’s a 15-minute stop to go in and out,” Cornelia added.

Despite Cornelia’s statements, BYD’s progress in this area is intriguing.

BYD’s new charging technology provides added value during the purchase process of a potential customer’s next electric car. Additionally, it offers support and security to the customer. Even if they never use it or only use it very rarely throughout the vehicle’s lifespan, the recently announced feature still enhances their overall experience.

The situation with these high-capacity chargers parallels the concept of 600-mile ranges in electric vehicles. In practice, such extreme capabilities are often unnecessary. However, they can enhance consumer confidence in adopting new technology by reducing the perceived gap between electric and combustion vehicles.

Image | Vlad Tchompalov

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