---
title: "The race for seconds: Chinese electric vehicles charge to 70% in less than 5 minutes"
description: "Chinese automakers have made a breakthrough in electric vehicle charging speed: new Lynk & Co and BYD models charge to 70% in less than 5 minutes. The race for seconds between CATL and FAW is changing the market, but it requires powerful infrastructure that is currently lacking in Europe and the US. ⚡🚗🇨🇳"
date: 2026-07-31T20:27:50.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/chinese-electric-vehicles-charge-to-70-in-less-than-5-minutes
tags: [geely, byd, catl, lynk-co, ev-charging]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# The race for seconds: Chinese electric vehicles charge to 70% in less than 5 minutes

![Modern BYD fast charging station for electric vehicles, enabling 70% charge in under 5 minutes](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/31/kitayskie-elektromobili-zaryazhayutsya-do-70-za-4-minuty/kitayskie-elektromobili-zaryazhayutsya-do-70-za-4-minuty-1.webp)

The traditional argument against buying electric vehicles—the long charging time at public stations—is rapidly losing relevance. Chinese automakers have achieved a technological breakthrough that is changing the rules of the game: new models allow restoring the traction battery charge to 70% in just 4 minutes and 22 seconds.

### Technological leadership of Geely and BYD

As the publication Electrek notes, such performance is already available in a dozen new models released by the Geely conglomerate under the Lynk & Co brand. The key factor in success has been the proprietary "Golden Brick" traction batteries. They are capable of withstanding high currents when connected to compatible charging stations. In the future, these capabilities are planned to be extended to other models from the manufacturer.

A serious competitor is the leader of the Chinese market, BYD. The company offers models with Blade 2.0 batteries, providing comparable speed. Increasing the charge from 10% to 70% takes no more than 5 minutes. The solution from Geely in this aspect turns out to be 38 seconds faster.

### The battle for seconds in the battery segment

The situation is intensifying in the commercial transport segment as well. The world's largest battery manufacturer, CATL, demonstrates batteries that raise the charge from 20% to 80% in 6 minutes and 48 seconds. However, for the consumer segment, the company is preparing solutions capable of raising the charge from 10% to 80% in just 3 minutes and 44 seconds.

The development of the competing FAW lags behind CATL's result by only three seconds. Chinese battery and electric vehicle manufacturers are already competing not for minutes, but for seconds spent on recharging.

### Infrastructure challenges and prospects

The declared performance indicators are achievable exclusively when using high-power charging stations. The infrastructure of BYD and Geely can reach 1.5 MW, and in China, this figure is not the limit for future developments. It is important to note that such charging infrastructure is spreading rapidly in China, so the characteristics are achieved in practice, not just on demonstration stands.

In the US and Europe, the power of the fastest charging stations rarely exceeds 500–600 kW. Nevertheless, BYD is ready to build its stations in Europe as well. On the North American continent, expansion is possible in Canada due to favorable customs tariffs, while the US remains closed to such scaling.