Tesla has a new problem in China. BYD is finally bringing its megawatt flash chargers to market on a large scale, and the specs are letting Supercharger down. These new units produce 1360 kW, enough to achieve a range of around 400 kilometers in around five minutes.
The timing is important. BYD has discussed this technology before, but has held off on introducing it. According to Car News China’s social media posts, construction is now apparently underway, and the company is betting that ultra-fast charging will attract more drivers to its electric vehicles.
What you actually buy with 1360 kW
The numbers are hard to ignore. BYD’s system runs at 1000V and 1000A to achieve this peak, a level that Tesla has not achieved with its Superchargers. The company claims “1 second 2 kilometers,” which shortens a 250-mile charge to about five minutes at the wall.
Liquid cooling prevents the hardware from melting under this load. It runs through both the cables and the connector itself, allowing you to maintain maximum current without overheating. The design also solves a physical hassle by having two cables suspended from a pulley system. No more wrestling with heavy lines or searching for a line to reach your port.
There is a smart grid game here too. The piles store electricity during off-hours and release it during peak demand. This keeps output constant at 1 MW and avoids the expensive demand fees that destroy the economics of fast chargers.
Where Tesla is still leading and where not
The gap is big. Tesla’s V3 superchargers have a maximum output of 250 kW. Even the upcoming V4 bodies, expected to reach 350kW for Cybertruck, fall short of BYD’s peak output of 1360kW. Real charging curves will narrow, but this margin is still important.
Loading speed is now a purchasing driver. Tesla built its empire on reach and network size. BYD attacks the other variable, how fast you can go. Liquid cooling allows these chargers to maintain high performance without the voltage drop experienced by older fast chargers.
The cost explains the delay. The source points out that this hardware is expensive, which is why BYD took so long to scale. But with construction now visible, the company is signaling that the math is finally paying off. Local battery storage also helps keep prices reasonable by flattening peaks in demand.
What needs to be taken into account in charging wars
The network size continues to favor Tesla. Compressors are everywhere and they just work. But BYD is closing the gap where it hurts most: in the minutes you actually spend waiting. The pulley system and liquid cooling also suggest that these stacks could remain reliable as more electric vehicles come onto the market.
The open question is the speed of rollout. BYD needs to prove it can build this network just as quickly as cars. If the deployment matches the charger’s specifications, Tesla may require a response sooner than the next Supercharger update.
Keep an eye on construction schedules in China. That’s where this race is won or lost.
