The current understanding (or debate, depending on who you ask) that refueling a car with gas is quicker than charging an EV might be coming to a close. China’s BYD Auto has revealed a new 1000 volt, 1000 ampere EV architecture called “Super E-Platform” that promises not just gobs more power and capacity potential over current architectures, but also offers megawatt fast charging speeds equivalent to 250 miles of range in just five minutes, or 12 miles of range for every 10 seconds.
As of 2025, the most common EV architecture stands at 400V, although some bigger or higher-performance vehicles more than double that amount. However, BYD Auto is about the launch the next generation architecture in the form of its “Super E-Platform,” which offers a trifecta of 1000s: 1000V, 1000A, and 1000kW. Among other claims, BYD says that charging up 400 kilometers (250 mi) of driving range takes a mere five minutes. That’s as quick as a typical gas station stop, although, if this were in the U.S., the kWh cost per mile would probably be astronomical.
