Geely Says Its 2.2 MW Charger Can Charge An EV In Four Minutes

The driver of the electric car inserts the electrical connector to charge the batteries. Unrecognizable man attaching power cable to electric car. Electric vehicle Recharging battery charging port.
File photo for illustration purposes. Image Credit: Man charging EV by mpohodzhay/Shutterstock.

EV charging speeds in China are getting ridiculous, and Geely apparently isn’t interested in letting BYD have the last word. The company is preparing to unveil charging technology capable of delivering a staggering 2.2 megawatts.

For context, we’re talking about 2,200 kW of peak power. That’s well beyond the charging rates offered by today’s typical passenger EVs and even higher than some megawatt-class systems developed for electric commercial trucks.

Geely is teasing the technology as part of its next-generation smart charging system, with an official presentation scheduled for September 23 at its Global All-Domain Safety Center in Ningbo, China. The company is also promoting a headline-grabbing four-minute charging time.

Full technical details haven’t been released yet, so there are some important questions still unanswered. Most notably, Geely hasn’t specified exactly what state-of-charge window that four-minute claim covers.

2.2 MW Is An Enormous Number


China’s EV manufacturers have spent the past couple of years steadily pushing charging power upward. BYD’s latest Flash Charging technology can reach a claimed 1.5 MW, while Geely-owned Zeekr has previously demonstrated its own megawatt-class charging hardware.

At 2.2 MW, Geely’s upcoming system would raise the bar significantly. Peak charging power doesn’t tell the entire story, though, since an EV cannot necessarily sustain its maximum rate throughout a charging session.

Battery chemistry, temperature, charging curves, and the vehicle’s ability to handle that much current will ultimately determine how useful the additional power becomes. Those details should become clearer when Geely formally unveils the technology.

Four-Minute Charging Is The Goal

Electric cars charge the battery at the EV charging station
File photo for illustration purposes. Image Credit: EV Charging sarawuth/Shutterstock.

Geely’s teaser promises charging in four minutes, putting the experience very close to the time needed for a conventional fuel stop. Until the company defines the starting and ending charge percentages, however, comparisons with rival systems should be treated cautiously.

The company is also emphasizing battery longevity. Reports surrounding the new technology point to sophisticated thermal management designed to control cell temperatures, along with claims of approximately 3,500 charge-discharge cycles with limited degradation.

Geely is calling the system its next-generation “AI smart charging technology.” Exactly how artificial intelligence contributes to charging management should also become clearer during the September 23 presentation.

China’s Charging War Keeps Escalating

BYD has been particularly aggressive in reducing charging times, claiming its latest technology can add hundreds of kilometers of driving range in only a few minutes. Geely’s 2.2-MW system appears designed to push that competition another step forward.

Supplying multiple passenger cars with megawatts of power also creates obvious infrastructure challenges. Battery-buffered charging stations and intelligent power management could reduce peak demands on the electrical grid, approaches already being explored as charging outputs climb.

Until September 23, the 2.2 MW is nothing more than a headline figure rather than a true representation of Geely’s technology. One thing we can say for certain is that China’s EV charging arms race doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Author: Andre Nalin

Title: Writer

Andre has worked as a writer and editor for multiple car and motorcycle publications over the last decade, but he has reverted to freelancing these days. He has accumulated a ton of seat time during his ridiculous road trips in highly unsuitable vehicles, and he’s built magazine-featured cars. He prefers it when his bikes and cars are fast and loud, but if he had to pick one, he’d go with loud.

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