Charging power race: Geely 2.25 MW vs BYD 1.5 MW and 2,000 stations

China's charging market is entering a race for record power. In Ningbo, Geely presented the fifth generation of its Smart Charging station, capable of a peak output of 2,250 kW (2.25 MW). This exceeds the BYD Flash Charging column shown in March, which delivers a maximum of 1,500 kW through a single connector, according to electrive.

The station's power is not the only factor. The cell it pairs with matters more. Geely combines the station with the "Shendun Golden Battery," designed for ultra-fast charging at a maximum rate of 12C. In tests, the Lynk & Co 10 and Zeekr 001 equipped with this cell charged from 10 to 70 percent in 4 minutes and 30 seconds, and to 97 percent in 8 minutes and 40 seconds. These figures are slightly faster than those BYD cites for the second generation of its Blade battery, which also holds records when paired with the Flash Charging system.

Motorways: 2,000 BYD stations

Meanwhile, the question of whether charging on the road remains a bottleneck is being answered. On 24 September 2026, BYD announced on Weibo that it had completed its 2,000th fast-charging station on motorways. This was three months ahead of schedule and before the holiday travel peaks. The plan announced on 5 March targets 20,000 stations by the end of 2026, including 2,000 on motorways. By the end of August, the company had built 10,000 points.

These motorway stations cover close to one third of China's service areas, with an average gap of just over 100 km between them. Charging queues have long been a primary concern for Chinese electric vehicle drivers on long routes. Reducing these gaps is as critical as reducing charging time.

NIO bets on battery swapping

NIO took a different path, expanding its battery swap network rather than relying solely on charging. According to company data for 25 September 2026, 9,430 charging and swapping points are operational across China. This includes 4,124 battery swap stations, 5,306 charging stations, and 30,594 charging points. On the same day, NIO opened a station at the Kaiyuan Silk Road hotel in Huoerguosi. This is the westernmost point of its Silk Road route, which spans 3,605 km and includes 33 swap stations.

Chinese infrastructure is thus developing along two parallel models: ultra-fast charging (Geely, BYD) and full battery swapping (NIO). For Europe, this indicates that expanding charger power alone, without changing battery architecture, will not solve downtime issues.