- BYD confirms Denza will bring its Flash charging to Europe
- The 1,500 kW outlets can deliver a charge of 10-70% in just five minutes
- Chinese Z9 GT can go 644 miles on a single charge
Deemed to be the ‘premium technology-oriented car brand’ of the BYD Group, Denza has confirmed that its headline-grabbing Z9 GT Performance EV will be heading to Europe, along with the equally impressive 1,500kW charging capacity.
Already in use in China, BYD’s Flash Charging stations deliver more than three times as much as competing ‘ultra-fast charging’ outlets, enabling a 10-70% charge in just five minutes and a 10-97% refill in just nine minutes, even in -30°C temperatures, it claims.
The Denza Z9 GT rides on a bespoke e3 platform, with the shooting brake Grand Tourer featuring a 122 kWh blade battery and up to 800 km (almost 500 miles) on a single charge in the rear-wheel drive version.
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There’s also a more performance-focused version that uses three electric motors to deliver more than 960bhp and a 0-62mph sprint time of less than three seconds. Both models are to be sold in one location in April this year.
According to Car News China, the Z9 GT became the fastest new energy luxury GT to deliver 10,000 vehicles in China when it went on sale early last year, with more than 5,000 orders within 36 hours of launch.
There’s no word on European pricing yet, but the cheapest cars start at just 443,900 yuan ($45,900 / around £35,000 / AU$65,000) and top out at 384,800 yuan ($52,600 / around £40,000 in China).
Despite these figures, which are likely to increase when import costs and taxes are factored in, the Denza brand can still drastically undercut premium rivals from established players such as Porsche, Audi and BMW.
Analysis: Megawatt charging is coming
While Denza’s Z9 GT offers some impressive stats, perhaps most relevant are its headlines, where the company promotes the principle of “ready in 5, full in 9, cold add 3” – as in, if it’s cold outside, add three minutes to those numbers.
That’s all well and good, but it only works with the appropriate charging outlets. In China, BYD is currently building 4,000 1.5 mW charging stations across the country, with plans to roll out 20,000 by the end of this year.
While not quite as ambitious, a BYD spokesperson for the European side of the business told me the company is aiming for 2,000 1.5mW Flash charging stations across Europe by the end of 2026.
This will first focus on the five major European countries, with the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain receiving the majority of these chargers.
But with most of the fastest charging points in Europe currently topping out at 350kW (there are a few 500kW sockets), BYD’s plans look set to push the fast-charging game into the next generation.
As with Tesla and its Supercharger network in the early days of EVs, only BYD and Denza owners will be able to make use of these supposed five-minute charge times, leaving rival premium automakers and the EV infrastructure as a whole to play into.
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