BYD Unveils 2nd-Gen Blade Battery with 9-Minute Flash Charging

BYD has unveiled its second-generation Blade Battery, claiming a flash-charging speed of 10 percent to 97 percent in just nine minutes, paired with an ambitious plan to roll out 20,000 ultra-fast charging stations across China before the end of the year.

The Chinese EV giant also launched what it calls the world's most powerful mass-produced supercharger — a 1.5-megawatt unit delivering up to 1,500 kW per gun, a 50 percent increase over the first-generation flash-charger introduced in March 2025. BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu announced the "Flash-charging China" strategy, revealing that 4,239 stations had been completed as of March 5 and that 15,761 more would be built before December.

The second-gen Blade Battery can go from 10 to 70 percent in only five minutes. BYD says stopping at 97 percent is a deliberate energy-saving design choice, leaving the final 3 percent of capacity available for regenerative braking to reduce overall consumption.

Cold-Weather Performance Breakthrough

Addressing one of the most persistent criticisms of electric vehicles in northern climates, BYD claims the new battery performs remarkably in extreme cold. After being frozen at minus 30 degrees Celsius for 24 hours, the battery takes just 12 minutes to charge from 20 percent to 97 percent — only three minutes longer than at room temperature. The company says this "makes the persistent challenges of using EVs in China's freezing north a thing of the past."

The flash-charging technology is also compatible with roughly 4.8 million existing public charging piles in China, delivering speeds 30 to 50 percent faster than other models using the same infrastructure.

Ten Models to Launch With New Battery

Ten BYD-group models will be the first to feature the second-generation Blade Battery: Fangchengbao Tai 3, Fangchengbao Tai 7, BYD Song Ultra, BYD Sealion 06, BYD Seal 07, BYD DaTang, Denza Z9GT, Denza N9, Yangwang U8L and Yangwang U7.

The Yangwang U8L will come with a 150 kWh battery pack and a CLTC-rated pure-electric range of 1,006 kilometres. The fully electric Denza Z9GT is rated at up to 1,036 kilometres on the same cycle.

20,000 Stations by Year-End

The planned charging network breaks down into two categories. Eighteen thousand stations will be built in partnership with existing Chinese charging-network operators, requiring no additional grid capacity or land. BYD aims to place a flash-charging station within five kilometres of 90 percent of urban areas.

The remaining 2,000 stations will sit along highways, with one deployed roughly every 100 kilometres. The first 1,000 highway chargers are scheduled to be ready before the May Day holiday this year. Each flash-charging stall is equipped with two charging guns and a super-fast discharging energy-storage system, ensuring full-speed charging even when two vehicles are connected simultaneously. Each gun can serve up to 50 cars per day, delivering approximately 2,000 kWh daily.

Open Network and Customer Incentives

BYD confirmed the flash-charging stations will be open to all EV brands, though non-BYD vehicles will likely charge at significantly lower power levels. All vehicles equipped with the second-generation Blade Battery will receive one year of free supercharging from the delivery date; after that, fees will match industry peers.

The company also introduced a community-driven station request programme: four nearby flash-charging users can petition for a new station, which can be installed within a week if site conditions allow.

BYD plans to expand its supercharging network overseas by the end of 2026, extending the "Flash-charging China" model to international markets.