BYD develops battery that charges as fast as one pumps fuel

In a big step towards answering one of the widely asked questions about electrified vehicles, BYD has announced that the second generation of its iconic Blade Battery, when combined with its self-developed Flash Charging, is able to make recharging as fast and as easy as refuelling.

Now, the brand claims that a 10-70% recharge can take as little as five minutes, while a 10-97% recharge requires about nine minutes. And according to CLTC tests, the Blade Battery itself is now capable of longer distances (more than 1,000km) thanks to a 5% gain in energy density.

The Flash Charger is capable of delivering up to 1,500kW through a single connector (Chinese market specs) while featuring a unique T-shaped overhead design

Developed through six years of intensive research, the Blade Battery 2.0 is the foundation of the latest breakthroughs in Flash Charging. With traditional batteries, the key qualities of fast charging and high energy density are often seen as conflicting technical goals, but BYD has resolved this trade-off while retaining safety and durability with the creation of a "FlashPass" Ion Transport System that reduces internal resistance and cuts heat generation at the source.

The Blade Battery 2.0 also passed a string of fresh benchmark safety evaluations, including the world's first simultaneous Flash Charging and Nail-Penetration Test, which resulted in no thermal runaway, smoke, or fire, even after 500 Flash Charging cycles. It also passed a thermal-runaway test after the forced short circuit of four cells simultaneously, with no fire or explosion, even when reaching temperatures of over 700°C.

Furthermore, when compared to its predecessor, the Blade Battery 2.0's overall capacity degradation has been reduced by 2.5%.

As for the Flash Charger, BYD states that it is capable of delivering up to 1,500kW through a single connector (Chinese-market specs). And as of 5 March 2026, the brand has installed 4,239 Flash Charging stations across China, with 20,000 of these expected to be in operation by the end of 2026.

To support this scale and speed of rollout in a wide variety of locations, the station is paired with an ultra-fast-discharge energy storage system that helps to break through grid restrictions. It uses a battery that gets recharged at slower speeds and can act as both an energy reservoir to prevent grid overload, as well as a power amplifier that enables high-power charging.

BYD has also affirmed its commitment to make its Flash Charging stations available globally, with more details of this overseas rollout plan to be communicated in due course.