A BYD electric car has been spotted testing a record-breaking 1,500 kW (1.5 megawatt) “Flash Charging” system at a demonstration site in Shenzhen, China. This is megawatt-level charging which is a scale rarely seen for passenger vehicles.
Photos shared online from the test station show a layout that looks more like a futuristic fuel stop, complete with T-shaped gantries and liquid-cooled charging guns. The hardware reportedly runs on a 1,000-volt architecture, delivering up to 1,500 amps of current.
For now, only select vehicles capable of handling more than 1,000 kW input which happen to be models carrying a “Flash Charge” badge that were allowed to plug in.
Charging automatically stops at 97% state of charge, likely to protect battery longevity just like with recent updates from other Korean and also Chinese EV’s pushing for 80% only state of charge.
BYD has also developed a dedicated Flash Charging app. Early reports suggest charging can begin within about 10 seconds of plugging in, without QR codes or manual steps.
With the app, drivers can locate stations through the app, and plug-and-charge functionality appears to be built in.
As for cost, the preliminary price shown at the Shenzhen demo site is 1.3 yuan per kWh, split into 1.0 yuan for electricity and 0.3 yuan as a service fee. That works out to roughly USD 0.18 per kWh, competitive for ultra-fast charging at this scale. Some early buyers of compatible vehicles may even receive up to 1,000 kWh of free electricity per year, though final policies haven’t been confirmed.
For context, Tesla’s V4 Superchargers in China deliver up to 500 kW, while most public DC fast chargers operate between 250 and 600 kW. At 1,360–1,500 kW, BYD’s hardware could deliver nearly three times Tesla’s peak output and more than double most mainstream chargers.
Industry sources suggest BYD may target over 4,000 self-operated stations, with partner networks potentially expanding access to more than 15,000 locations.
For now, it’s still in internal testing. But if these numbers hold up in real-world use, megawatt charging for everyday EVs could be closer than many expected and BYD will remain the No.1 electric vehicle company in the world.
