- China’s Dongfeng Motor is emerging as a new player in the ultra-fast EV charging game.
- The company revealed a 1.5-megawatt stall that competes directly with BYD’s Flash Chargers.
- This is just the beginning, though, with the state-owned company already working on chargers that deliver over 2 MW.
China’s relentless electric car industry gave us BYD and its headline-making Flash Chargers, which can replenish an EV’s battery in as little as five minutes. Well, now there’s a new player in town, and it’s going after BYD’s widely known ultra-fast charger.
State-owned Dongfeng Motor just unveiled its first in-house developed high-power charger, which can deliver a peak of 1,500 kilowatts to a single EV, matching the highest-powered EV dispensers available in China right now.
Dongfeng 1,500-kW EV charger
Photo by: Dongfeng
The stall can cater to two EVs simultaneously, but its output is automatically split between them if both cables are used. When used at its maximum capacity, the dispenser can deliver up to 1,500 amps at 1,000 volts, but it can also turn the voltage dial way down to as little as 150V if needed. With a stated overall efficiency of 96.7%, Dongfeng’s new ultra-fast EV charger can work with pretty much any EV on the market, thanks to its very wide voltage range.
The company didn’t say how fast one of its EVs would charge when hooked up to its new dispenser, but it all boils down to what battery system is being used. In other words, there’s nothing stopping BYD drivers from using Dongfeng’s stations and expecting the same five-minute stops advertised by BYD for its Flash Chargers.
All this being said, Dongfeng is just getting started. The company said it’s already working on the next generation of EV chargers with built-in battery storage, with outputs ranging from 720 kW to a whopping 2.4 megawatts, according to CNEVPost. These next-gen stalls will be compatible with both passenger and commercial EVs.
Until that happens, Dongfeng’s first-gen ultra-fast EV charger is among the first in the industry to comply with China’s new energy-efficiency national standard, scoring a Level 1 label.
BYD and Dongfeng are just a drop in the bucket when it comes to moving the needle in the right direction. Recently, Hongqi announced that its new experimental battery can charge from 10-to-80% in less than four minutes, while a 10-to-97% charge takes about eight minutes. Meanwhile, CATL’s third-generation Shenxing LFP battery can reportedly go from 10% to 80% in less than four minutes, while a 10-to-98% charge can end after only six and a half minutes.