Geely one-ups BYD with 2.2MW charger, allowing 4-minute EV charges

Chinese automaker Geely is set to unveil a new EV charging system on September 23 that it says can charge a car battery in about four minutes. That would edge out rival BYD's newest fast-charging system and continue a rapid pace of improvement in China's EV charging technology, where charge times have dropped from minutes to the point where seconds now matter.

The new chargers reportedly deliver up to 2.2 megawatts of power, roughly 50% more than BYD's current 1.5-megawatt system. Geely is also promoting "smart charging" software that uses AI to manage battery temperature, with claims the battery can handle 3,500 charge cycles with little loss of capacity over time. Exact details, including what charging range (say, 10% to 80%) the four-minute figure refers to, haven't been confirmed yet.

None of this is available in the United States. For comparison, this new system would charge faster than even Tesla's first Megacharger, which is built for large trucks rather than everyday cars. For homeowners, this is a look at where EV charging technology is heading elsewhere, not something you can access yet. Charging speeds in the US, including at home, remain far slower, and there's no word on when or if this kind of ultra-fast charging hardware might arrive for American drivers or homes.