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Comment by netfortius | Hacker News Reader

This [0] is the actual (good) news, linked from the article.

[0] https://www.techradar.com/vehicle-tech/hybrid-electric-vehic...

Neither article really explains how they are able to charge this fast, aside from “vertical integration” and slightly increased energy density in the battery design. No real details on the charging technology itself.

Sounds like the trick is to use 1.5MW chargers. I guess that'll do it. I suppose the question is how they handel this thermally.

there needs to be battery chemistry improvements. Otherwise, with existing batteries, charging at these speeds will cause too much heat and shorten battery life span. BYD is offering 1.5MW charging with increased battery lifespan and without increasing the heat dissipation requirements. Another improvement compared to current crop of batteries is charge curve. Charging from 80 to 95%, BYD batteries can handle higher power than current batteries at MAX

BYD did not go to specifics about their blade 2.0 battery that enables this, but there has to be battery chemistry and manufacturing advancements. CATL shared some details on their 12C LFP batteries before, they lowered li-ion mobility resistance, increased how the anode and cathode can accept more li-ions at faster rates. Another improvement for blade 2.0 battery is the charge curve is much better. 80 - 90 % can have much higher charging rates.

Is this even as fast as the existing CATL tech? It seems to just be where batteries are heading through a bunch of small improvements over time.

With 5 minute charging, suddenly conventional gas stations can be used for EVs just as they are for ICE. Nice thing about 'plugging in' as opposed to 'filling up' is that a charging car can be left completely unattended (while you go to pay, get a coffee, or whatever).

Seems that the technological barriers have been overcome, now we just need to build out the infrastructure - which could be as simple as retooling existing gas stations. No need to electrify every parking space or such like.

Yes, retooling gas stations is the way to go. Already happening in Norway where stations now show the price of kWh in addition to gas and diesel prominently on signs by the road. Charging is just a different kind of pump.

Charging stations don't need all the environmental equipment that gas stations have to catch oil and gas run off. I guess we could convert old gas stations that don’t need extensive environmental cleanup, but building new ones just to charge EVs is huge overkill when you just need some space in a parking lot.

That's a good point. Charging stations benefit from being a service station too though, with amenities and a cafe etc, since people want something to do while they charge. So a gas station is a better candidate than a parking lot when decisions are made for where to place the new charging infrastructure. Lots of other factors too of course.

I prefer grocery stores because I can run in and grab something quickly. The only problem is that charging is often too quick to do any real shopping, so a smaller convenience store makes sense also.

a key difference between a gas station and a parking lot is that people only park at a gas station to get gas (and have a rest, get dinner, bathroom break etc), so, assuming quick charging, you need less chargers as they will spend less time not charging a fully charged car left parked on them. Gas station staff can ensure charging spots are utilized correctly as they do now for the pumps.

Also everyone understands how gas stations work, so it is easier to slip EVs into the social fabric.

Those fast chargers rely on a buffer, so I’m not sure thy can be used continuously like a gas pump can.

An EV is in digital communication with the charging station. Why would you “go pay”? You don’t “go pay” at a Tesla Supercharger.

Not everyone wants to link their bank account to shady automotive companies or be paying automotive company charging price markup.

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