BYD’s Megawatt Charger Explained: 2.1 MW System Output with 1.5 MWh BESS

I've been following BYD's megawatt charging journey for almost a year now.

It started back in February 2025 when I first saw passenger cars charging at 1,000 kW. Not prototypes - production cars you could actually buy.

That moment changed everything for me.

Before this, my entire focus was on Europe. The 400V architecture cars peaking at 130-170 kW. The “fast” 800V battery architectures, Porsche Taycan hitting 270 kW, Hyundai's E-GMP platform managing 220 kW. We treated 150 kW as impressive. 250 kW as exceptional.

And here was BYD, casually demonstrating a megawatt charging capability.

I actively found the charging test videos of the Han L and Tang L, and put both the tests in a video to showcase and calculate exactly how much energy was delivered during these sessions.

I needed to understand how China was so far ahead for emobility. Felix Hamer was the first person to really lay it out for me at my podcast, how emobility actually works in China, why it scaled so differently there, and what Europe fundamentally needs to change about its approach.

Since then, I have written extensively about how deflation is a major driver behind China's export boom, and how Chinese consumers have helped R&D timelines to shrink from 5 years down to 2. But without me being carried away, let me bring attention to the topic back.

In March 2025, BYD showcased their new battery pack:

The automotive media went crazy. Headlines everywhere. Then... silence.

No deployment photos. No updates. Just the announcement and nothing more.

Until this week.

Now we're seeing the first real pictures from deployed sites in China. And I have to say, I'm impressed by what BYD has built here.

These are leaked images, so take this with a grain of salt. But judging by the consistency across multiple photos, I believe this is what the final product looks like.

The Infrastructure Design:

BYD created something I've personally never seen before. A T-shaped canopy design. It's brilliant. The kind of thing that stops people in their tracks.

Two connectors, and from the photos, the liquid cooled cables appear to be retractable. I really hope they are, especially for Europe. Would help solve our cable theft problem. 😅

Looking at the site layout, you'll notice three separate housings. Two look identical, one is different. That difference matters and I'll explain why in a moment.

Then I saw the nameplate specifications. And this is where it got fascinating.

I have to trust that this nameplate is accurate, and considering the housing layout visible in the photos, I think it is.

BYD Megawatt Flash Charger:

Let me show you the problem.

Using the three phase power calculation by assuming a power factor of 0.99:

P ≈ √3 × 380V × 896A × 0.99 = 584 kW from the grid

But the charger claims 2,100 kW maximum output.

That's 1,516 kW missing. Where's it coming from?

Before jumping to conclusions, I needed to verify I wasn't making a mistake. So I looked at other megawatt chargers available in Europe.

Alpitronic HYC 1000:

P ≈ √3 × 400V × 1600A × 0.99 = 1090 kW from the grid

The math checks out perfectly. It's 100% grid dependent and can deliver exactly what it promises.

ABB MCS 1200:

P ≈ √3 × 400V × 616A × 0.99 = 419 kW from the grid

This also checks out. You install three units to reach 1,200 kW total, as explained in my interview with ABB's Head of Product and Portfolio Marketing, Chistopher Thompson.

I would have included Kempower here, but they require filling out a contact form just to see technical specifications, and I didn't pursue it. Different story with AUTEL, I saw their beautiful MCS dispenser last year at EVS38, but it's not listed on their website. Ekoenergetyka shows dispenser specifications but doesn't connect them to specific power cabinet configurations.

But the pattern is clear: The rest of Megawatt systems are dependent on Grid. BYD is doing something fundamentally different.

Looking at those three housings in the photos, it makes sense now. One housing should contain the 600 kW power modules. The other two? Battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Now the question becomes: how much battery capacity?

Let me be honest - I'm making an educated guess here based on available data.

In an article from Car News China, I think I have found the answer, which indicated that the BYD Flash Charging Stations will have 1.5 MWh energy storage systems.

So that means these are two 750 kWh battery storage systems i.e. 1.5 MWh total. At first glance, that capacity seems massive. But we're talking about BYD here. They are battery specialists first, with complete vertical integration. What would cost competitors a fortune to source externally, BYD manufactures in house at a fraction of the cost.

In Europe, the average charging session at major fast charging CPOs delivers 31-33 kWh/session. But the average battery capacity of Chinese EV is smaller. I attended the presentation of S&P Global Mobility, at the Battery Show 2025, where Hugo Cruz, Senior Analyst, presented the BEV battery trends. Using this data, I estimate Chinese charging sessions average 27-29 kWh.

With 1.5 MWh of storage, this system can provide energy to approximately 50+ EVs before needing to recharge from the grid.

The CAPEX for these stations will be substantial. But the business model is completely different:

The short answer: No. Let me explain why and why I think a better solution exists.

In the current landscape of EU, very rarely will cars actually charge at above 400 kW. The only ones going above this are usually built on Chinese EV platforms e.g. Zeekr, XPENG, Lotus and even Smart etc.

The fastest charging car I have seen from EU OEM is Mercedes AMG GT XX. During its record run, traveling 40,075 km in 7.5 days, it charged with a peak of 1,041 kW and the interesting part, it was using CCS-2 connectors. I have written an extensive article and estimated that they consumed roughly 23,000 kWh i.e. Eight years of average energy consumption of an EU Driver in eight days. Absolutely unbelievable.

In China, BYD seems to be using GB/T connectors with a special holder design

But what happens when they bring this to Europe?

MCS (Megawatt Charging System)? Unlikely for passenger cars. It's designed for commercial vehicles, and adoption is basically zero in passenger EVs. Even for eTrucks, there will be only a limited scope for it. I discussed in detail this topic, with the ex-CTO of IONITY and CEO of DXBe Management, Wulf Schlachter.

CCS-2? This is the path I expect them to take.

I covered the first 1 MW CCS connector from Phoenix Contact at Power2Drive, capable to support 1000 A and 1000V. I interviewed their Division Manager Charging Infrastructure, Ulrich Aschenbroich, who explained how it works.

But there are already other cable manufacturers. E.g. BRUGG is now offering CCS-2 cables that can handle 850A and with an extra cooling unit, it can also support up to 1000 A+ depending on the cable length and temperature.

So such solution, they'll easily cover the charging specifications of every car in Europe.

BYD has been quietly hiring top talent across Europe’s charging sector recently. Having worked in this industry myself, I am well connected with the e-mobility professionals here. I know few people who have joined them and I know they are purpose driven, extremely capable, and they don't move for "business as usual."

Their movement signals that BYD is planning something significant. They know that simply competing with the same technology as the status quo offers no strategic advantage.

This battery integrated megawatt charging architecture solves Europe's biggest infrastructure constraint: grid connection capacity.

Where Alpitronic, ABB E-mobility, Kempower, Ekoenergetyka etc. need 1,100 kW from the grid, BYD only needs 600 kW and delivers even more peak power through battery buffering.

That's not just clever engineering. That's a deployment multiplier.

But in EU, if they want to take it to next level, they should consider current EU solutions, e.g. VW Elli Flexpole Plus or ADS-TEC Charge Post, the current charging capabilities of EVs, the pain points of CPOs and who knows - soon enough they might even be selling their chargers to CPOs here in EU and become expand from just BYD CPO to a charger manufacturers and solutions seller.

Here is what think. designing a site with these 1.5 MWh BESS. But instead of just 2 charge points, they should think at 10 - 12 charge points. Last year I published a complete breakdown of IONITY network, for all EU countries and here is the most important finding.

The average IONITY site size has increased by 49% between 2018 and 2025. From 5.7 to 8.7 CP/Site. The new sites usually have 12 charge points. You can read the breakdown here.

So there were my few thoughts on BYD Flash Chargers. It will be interesting to see how they will rollout these chargers in coming years. I would like to hear your opinion as well, what was the most interesting aspect of these chargers.

Also kindly provide your feedback, if you liked this Newsletter. This helps me to improve.

Thanks and till next week,
Haseeb