One of China’s leading manufacturers introduces a battery that can charge from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes.

Following BYD, CATL, and Geely, another Chinese player has joined the race in developing batteries that can be charged in less than 10 minutes: Sunwoda. The Asian manufacturer has announced the launch of a new generation of batteries capable of achieving a 15C charging rate, going from 10% to 70% in 5 minutes and from 10% to 97% in 9 minutes... at room temperature.

At -20 °C, the battery takes 15 minutes to charge from 10% to 97%, a figure that remains remarkably impressive. Meanwhile, Sunwoda plans to deploy approximately 10,000 charging stations with megawatt-level capacity by the end of 2027. This comprehensive strategy is similar to that adopted by BYD and Geely, who also have their own ultra-fast charging stations.

According to Sunwoda, its batteries will enable the development of cars with ranges exceeding 700 km (under China’s CLTC certification cycle, which typically yields higher figures than Europe’s WLTP cycle). Additionally, a 10-year or 300,000 km warranty will be provided, with no limits on ultra-fast charging sessions.

After years of price wars in the electric vehicle sector, it seems China’s industry is entering a new internal battle: one over charging times. BYD’s rapid rollout of the Flash Charging 2.0 system has forced competitors to step up their efforts to avoid falling behind.

Europe Falls Behind as China Advances

This situation contrasts with Europe, where charging points with capacities of over 350-400 kW are still scarce. Currently, the fastest-charging European model is the Porsche Cayenne Electric, which can reach 80% charge in just 16 minutes with a peak power output of 390 kW. Other models like the BMW i3 take 21 minutes to achieve the same charge level.

Although companies such as Renault have set a goal of achieving 10-minute charging times (10-80%), this milestone will not be reached until 2030. In fact, it appears that the deployment of charging stations with capacities exceeding 1,000 kW will be driven by Chinese companies: BYD has confirmed its plan to build 3,000 such stations in Europe in the near future.

Will Europe be able to catch up? Given that the region currently lacks a strong battery manufacturer, it will be very difficult to compete not only with Chinese industry but also with Japanese companies (Panasonic) and South Korean firms (LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On), which also have highly advanced companies in this sector.

Source | CnEVPost