Geely Auto has debuted a new charging system capable of reaching a 70% charge in only 4.5 minutes. This development accelerates the competition among Chinese manufacturers to match the speed of traditional gasoline refueling.
Geely, BYD, and CATL’s race to 70% charge
The announcement from Geely Auto on Wednesday places the company at the forefront of a high-stakes technological arms race. According to the report, Geely's new system can charge an electric vehicle battery from 10% to 70% in 4.5 minutes , and can even reach 97% in 8 minutes and 40 seconds. This leap is designed to tackle "range anxiety" by bringing the electric vehicle experience closer to the five-minute refueling window enjoyed by gasoline car owners.
Geely is not alone in this pursuit. The company is joining industry leaders like BYD, which recently introduced a blade battery capable of a 70% charge in 5 minutes, and CATL, the world's largest battery maker. As reported by the source , CATL has already pushed the envelope with technology that can reach an 80% charge in just 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
The 20-minute gap in U.S. and Canadian charging
While Chinese manufacturers are rapidly compressing charging times, North American infrastructure appears to be moving at a different pace. Analysts noted that the fastest-charging EVs currently available in the United States and Canada typically require roughly 20 minutes to charge, with some high-end models from Hyundai, Kia, and Porsche reaching optimal speeds in 18 to 20 minutes.
Neal Ganguli, a partner at the consultancy AlixPartners, observed that while the U.S. charging network is expanding, it remains orders of magnitude behind the ultrafast speeds being developed in China. Ganguli suggested that the U.S. may not attempt to match China's "megawatt race" in the immediate future, opting instead for a more moderate upgrade path.
The 1-megawatt bottleneck and BYD’s 90,000-station target
Technological breakthroughs in battery chemistry are only half the battle; the physical power grid must also keep up. Stephen Chan, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings, pointed out that most public charging stations in China currently operate below 1 megawatt, which is insufficient to realize the full potential of the ultrafast tech from Geely, BYD, or CATL.
To address this, companies are making massive infrastructure bets. A Deutsche Bank analysis indicates that BYD is targeting a massive rollout, aiming for 20,000 superfast charging stations by the end of this year, with a goal of reaching 90,000 total stations by 2028.. This scale of expansion is necessary to prevent the charging network from becoming a bottleneck for the next generation of EVs.
The technical risk of battery overheating and degradation
Despite the impressive speed of these new systems, significant engineering questions remain regarding the long-term health of the vehicles. Chris Liu,a senior analyst at Omdia, raised concerns about whether batteries can repeatedly accept such high levels of current without suffering from internal bottlenecks, excessive overheating, or accelerated degradation.
The industry has yet to verify if these ultrafast charging sessions can be performed daily over the lifespan of a vehicle without compromising the battery's capacity. until manufacturers can prove the durability of these high-current cycles, the true utility of a 4.5-minute charge remains an unverified claim in the broader EV market.
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