BYD installed 10,000 hyper-fast 1,500kW chargers in just 5 months

Chinese automaker BYD has installed 10,000 of its ultra-fast "flash charging" stations in just five months, putting it on pace to hit its goal of 20,000 by year's end. These chargers deliver 1.5 megawatts of power, enough to charge BYD's fastest vehicles from 10 to 70 percent in about 5 minutes. The network already covers 325 Chinese cities, built in partnership with Sinopec, China's state-owned oil company, which is hosting chargers at some of its gas stations. BYD also plans thousands more chargers overseas, including 3,000 in Europe.

None of this technology is coming to the US anytime soon. For comparison, Tesla has installed around 38,000 charging ports total over 14 years of building its Supercharger network, with its newest 500 kilowatt chargers (a third the power of BYD's) taking about three years to reach full rollout after being announced. Federal funding meant to expand public charging across the US has also moved slowly, slowed further by regulatory hurdles, state-level delays, and political interference.

For homeowners, this is mostly a look at how fast charging technology is moving elsewhere rather than something that changes your own upgrade plans right now. If you drive an EV, home charging remains the most practical way to keep your car topped off day to day, and pairing that with rooftop solar can lower your charging costs regardless of what public fast-charging networks look like.