BYD plans to spend nearly €2bn to develop infrastructure in Europe needed to bring its five-minute “flash-charging” technology to all of its mainstream models over the next few years.
The world’s largest electric vehicle maker is banking on ultrarapid charging to take market share from legacy rivals, but the expansion of the technology will hinge on how fast it can roll out charging stations across the continent.
“It’s a lot of money [since] per station, it’s almost like half a million pounds,” Stella Li, the Chinese group’s top international executive, said as BYD launched its first flash-charging station in the UK. “First we need to build a very strong infrastructure network.” Each station would cost about €580,000.