China launches EV rival to Tesla that charges cars TWICE as fast with over 250 miles of driving in only five minutes
CHINA has just launched a super quick EV rival to Tesla that charges twice as fast.
The brand spanking new motor can be on the roads for 250 miles with a five-minute charge, allowing it to compete with diesel and petrol cars in terms of refueling speed.
BYD has unveiled its Han L sedan and Tang L SUV models which the top boss hopes will tackle “charging anxiety” among drivers.
Founder Wang Chuanfu said: “In order to completely solve users’ charging anxiety, our goal is to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refuelling time of ICE vehicles.
“This is the first time in the industry that the unit of megawatt has been achieved on charging power.”
The new motors could receive up to an astonishing 1,000 kilowatts (kW) of power compared to Tesla models which receive just 500kW.
With the new range of super speedy motors, BYD is also introducing a network of “flash-charging stations” across China.
These will allow owners of the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV models to have a similar experience to non-EVs in terms of quickly stopping to refuel at a nearby station.
This is big news for BYD as until now the increasingly-popular carmaker has used other manufacturers’ charging bays or public stations.
Wang started the business as a battery maker in 1995, before starting car manufacturing in 2003.
He later founded the Chinese Brand, which stands for Build Your Dreams, which has made a serious name for itself in the UK car market since it first launched in 2023.
Now it’s taken the title of the UK’s fastest-growing car brand with a whopping 658 per cent increase in sales in 2024.
It placed 8,700 new cars on British roads with its most popular vehicle being the Atto 3-segment SUV – a battery-electric compact crossover.
Shares in the BYD have skyrocketed to a record high on the back of the announcement of its “flash charging” tech further propelling its position as a Tesla rival.
This comes as the EV giant revealed 11 new models will be released in 2026.
Volkswagen and Jetta will design the motors solely for the Chinese car market.
Six of those cars will be EVs while two will be plug-in hybrids and the others will be two extended-rangers and one gasoline motor.
China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry has taken the industry by storm with BYD and other manufacturers like NIO and XPeng making big waves.
With strong government support, technological innovation, and growing consumer demand these brands are joining Tesla on the main stage.
China’s dominance in battery manufacturing, spearheaded by companies such as CATL, bolsters its strategic advantage in the global market.
This emphasis on electric vehicles aligns with China’s aim to cut carbon emissions and prioritize sustainable transport solutions.
The rise of BYD
Chinese powerhouse BYD, which stands for “Build Your Dreams,” a slogan the company adopted in 2008, is towering above their competition in the EV market in 2025.
Sure, Tesla are still the biggest and the loudest, but their influence is waning across the globe – thanks, in no small part, to CEO Elon Musk’s decision to throw his weight around in US politics.
Indeed, in recent years, BYD has been one of the largest EV manufacturers in the world, regularly competing with Tesla for the top spot in global EV sales and, in 2023, even surpassed Tesla in total EV sales.
The key to BYD’s success has been their integration strategy – as they design and manufacture their own batteries, semiconductors, and other critical components, reducing reliance on third-party suppliers.
They have also been aggressively expanding, with their presence felt across Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and even the US. Remember those adverts during the European Championships last summer?
While they still face stiff competition from the likes of Tesla, as well as other, legacy brands and emerging EV brands, BYD’s strategy positions itself as one of the dominant forces in the industry.