BYD touts 9‑minute Blade Battery charge

BYD said on March 5 that it had unveiled a second-generation Blade Battery and a 1,500-kilowatt FLASH Charging system that can take a compatible electric vehicle from 10% to 97% charge in nine minutes. The Chinese automaker and battery maker said the package is aimed at two persistent EV complaints: long charging times and weaker performance in low temperatures. The company announced the technology at an event in Shenzhen and later published the details on its corporate media channels. BYD said the same system can charge from 10% to 70% in five minutes. ### How fast is the charge claim, exactly? BYD’s published specification says the new setup delivers up to 1,500 kW through a single connector and can refill a battery from 10% to 97% in nine minutes under standard conditions. The company also said that in cold-weather testing, the battery could go from 20% to 97% in 12 minutes at -30°C. The March 5 release framed that as “flash charging,” a term BYD used for the pairing of the new battery and charger rather than for the battery alone. Independent trade publications including Electrive and CnEVPost reported the same figures after the launch event. ### What changed in the battery? BYD said the second-generation Blade Battery was developed over six years and is designed to improve charging speed, range and low-temperature performance. (media.byd.com) The company said the battery uses a redesigned solid electrolyte interphase, or SEI, to increase ionic conductivity while maintaining chemical stability. (electrive.com) BYD also said the battery improves internal resistance and thermal management, which are central to accepting very high charging power without overheating. Company materials say the battery is the foundation for the FLASH Charging system, meaning the charging claim depends on both the cell design and the matching charger. (bydukmedia.com) ### What about the cold-weather and durability claims? BYD said the battery maintained charging performance after being kept at -30°C for 24 hours, with a 20% to 97% charge completed in 12 minutes. That cold-weather figure appears in BYD’s own release and in multiple follow-up reports on the launch. Some secondary reports said BYD also cited operation at temperatures as low as -33°C, tolerance of 70°C during ultra-fast charging and reliability across 1,000 cycles. (bydukmedia.com) Those figures were not clearly laid out in the official BYD release surfaced here, so they remain company-linked claims reported by third-party outlets rather than details independently documented in the primary announcement. (media.byd.com) ### Does this work on any EV charger? BYD said no: the nine-minute result depends on a vehicle equipped with the second-generation Blade Battery and connected to BYD’s own FLASH Charger. The company described the charger as the world’s fastest mass-produced EV charger and said it can deliver 1,500 kW through a single connector. (carnewschina.com) Trade coverage of the launch also noted that the claim is tied to BYD’s hardware stack rather than to existing public fast-charging networks. That means the headline number is a system-level result, not a universal charging time for all BYD vehicles or all DC fast chargers. ### Where will drivers actually see it? (media.byd.com) BYD said it plans to build 20,000 FLASH charging stations in China by the end of 2026 and then expand overseas. The company also said the technology is intended for mass-produced vehicles rather than a concept demonstration. March 5 remains the key date for the public rollout of the technology. (electrive.com) The next concrete milestone BYD has named is the buildout of those 20,000 chargers in China by the end of 2026, which will determine how widely the nine-minute charging claim can be used outside launch demonstrations. (media.byd.com)