BYD has confirmed it's bringing its ultra-rapid EV chargers to Europe — and they’re fast enough to rival filling up a petrol car. That’s a big deal for anyone who’s ever stressed about long charging times on road trips.
If you’re not too familiar with BYD (it stands for Build Your Dreams), they’ve recently overtaken Tesla to become the world’s biggest electric car maker. And now they’re planning to roll out their ‘flash chargers’ across Europe over the next year.
These chargers use a 1,000kW setup — way faster than Tesla’s Superchargers, which max out at 250kW. In simple terms: BYD says you’ll be able to add 1.2 miles of range every second. That means a five-minute top-up could give you up to 250 miles of range — basically refuelling your EV as fast as filling a petrol tank.
At first, the chargers will mainly pop up at BYD dealerships, but the company says it’s already looking at more locations and partnerships to expand even further. Plus, they’ll even help older EVs charge 20–30% faster than usual.
Right now, most European EV chargers max out at 500kW, with many cars only able to handle around 200kW to protect the battery’s long-term health. So BYD’s 1,000kW chargers are on a totally different level. Whether European cars will be able to handle that kind of power anytime soon is still a bit of a question mark.
But for BYD owners, this could be a serious game-changer — and it’s part of the Chinese brand’s bigger plan to take over Europe’s EV market. They’ve already announced a new factory and R&D centre in Hungary, and say they want to be a major player in Europe by 2030.
Sales are growing steadily, with BYD’s European sales rising by around 10% every month. And if that keeps up, they’re planning even more local production.
Which BYD cars can you actually buy in the UK right now?
BYD only arrived in the UK in 2023 but they’re already offering three models that seriously undercut most rivals on price while still packing in tech, quality, and strong batteries:
- Atto 3 – £37,705
- Dolphin – £26,205
- Seal – £45,705
The compact Atto 2 SUV is also on the way later this year, starting around £30k. And BYD’s new Dolphin Surf city EV is set to drop below £20k, making it one of the cheapest EVs on the market — something that could really shake up the entry-level electric car scene.
Right now, BYD has 60 dealerships across the UK and counting.
