BYD tested its new Blade Battery by charging one of its EVs -22°F and the result is stunning proof of how far the technology has evolved

BYD is determined to solve one of the main problems of EVs with its new Blade Battery.

For as long as anyone can remember, people have been complaining about electric cars because they take too long to charge.

And that’s a fair criticism.

But the Chinese automaker seems to have fixed that.

The debate is ongoing

There are two camps.

Some people argue that charging times aren’t a problem.

You park your car, get coffee, get food, do whatever, and your EV is charged in less than an hour.

It used to be close to an hour, now it takes a lot less than that.

Others argue that charging an EV cannot take longer than filling up the tank of a gas car, otherwise it’s pointless.

BYD is getting very close to that ideal scenario with its new Blade Battery.

How BYD is fixing the problem

The Chinese manufacturer has invented a new type of battery with high energy density that keeps the car ‘lightweight’ and efficient, while also guaranteeing what they call ‘flash’ charging.

According to the automaker, it takes around nine minutes to get from 20 percent to 97 percent of charge, and around five minutes to get to 80 percent from 20 percent.

It’s still not as fast as filling up a tank with gas – but we’re getting there.

To prove their point, they also tried charging the battery in extreme cold weather at -30° Celsius or -22°F.

The battery charged from 20 percent to 97 percent in 12 minutes – only three minutes longer than it takes at room temperature.

Also, testing revealed that the second-generation Blade Battery retained over 85 percent of its capacity at that temperature, keeping winter range loss to around 15 percent.

To be clear, these claims stem from company-conducted laboratory tests, so real-world performance might be different.

But it’s still a huge step in the right direction.