PUBLISHER: ResearchInChina | PRODUCT CODE: 2129078
PUBLISHER: ResearchInChina | PRODUCT CODE: 2129078
Charging and battery swapping research: as 5C+ supercharging vehicle models go into mass production, the pace of OEMs self-building supercharging networks quickens
800-1000V high-voltage platforms are fully popularized, and 5C supercharging vehicle models are mass-produced
In 2026, with the full popularity of 800-1000V high-voltage platforms, high-rate supercharging batteries (5C and above) become the core arena for mainstream OEMs. Each brand has made in-depth layout in battery technology, charging rate and recharging network. High-rate fast charging (5C and above) has become the focus of competition among major OEMs. At the same time, 800V high-voltage platforms have spread to the mainstream family car (RMB150,000-200,000) market.
BYD: It has extensive layout in the field of supercharging. U9, a model of its high-end brand Yangwang, has a charging rate of 6C. Denza-branded vehicle models (such as Denza N7 and D9DM) boast 3C, and mainstream vehicle models such as Song LEV and Han EV offer 2C. In addition, BYD's newly released second-generation blade battery and flash charging technology can achieve extremely fast recharging from 10% to 70% in just 5 minutes and from 10% to 97% in only 9 minutes at room temperature. BYD has extended 800V flash charging technology to vehicle models worth hundreds of thousands of yuan (such as Song Ultra EV and Sea Lion 06 EV).
Li Auto: Featuring the 5C supercharging, the representative vehicle model Li MEGA is equipped with a 5C Qilin battery, which enables a range of 500 kilometers in 12 minutes. The next-generation Li L6 also supports 5C supercharging, and it can be charged from 20% to 80% in just 12 minutes.
Xiaomi Auto: Xiaomi SU7 Ultra (2025) features 5.2C supercharging, which takes only about 12 minutes to charge from 10% to 80%. It can be charged in 15 minutes for a range of about 620 kilometers, with a peak power of over 400kW.
XPeng: The typical vehicle model XPeng GX can be charged from 10% to 80% in only 11.7 minutes thanks to 5C supercharging.
ZEEKR (Geely): ZEEKR 007 boasts 5.5C high-rate fast charging, which can be completed in about 10 minutes; ZEEKR 8X is equipped with a 6C battery, which can be charged from 20% to 80% in only 9 minutes. The new version of ZEEKR 001 carries the 5C version of Shenxing Battery for the first time.
The realization of vehicle supercharging requires high-voltage automotive architectures and supercharging piles with a power of more than 600kW. OEMs not only need to develop vehicle models with high-voltage architectures and supercharging piles (such as BYD's single-gun 1500kW flash charging pile), but also promote the construction of Microgrid/V2mG featuring "storage-charging integration" with pile companies and grids to handle the instantaneous impact of high-power charging on power grids.
With the popularization of high-rate supercharging battery technology, the supercharging station construction by OEMs is moving from independent efforts to a new stage of ecosystem co-construction. By mainstream supercharging station solution/configuration, OEM charging network construction involves four main modes:
By the end of June 2026, the number of self-operated supercharging stations of major domestic mainstream OEMs are as follows:
BYD's flash charging stations: 7,018. In 2026, BYD's flash charging station construction plan mainly revolves around the "Flash Charging China" strategy, with the core goal of building 20,000 stations by the end of the year.
Li Auto's supercharging stations: 4,092
XPeng's supercharging stations: 2,650
Tesla China's supercharging stations: 2,600
NIO's supercharging stations (excluding swapping stations): 1,765. NIO's plan and latest construction progress released in 2026 closely focuses on "comprehensive expansion of charging and swapping networks" and "upgrading of fifth-generation swapping stations".
ZEEKR's self-operated supercharging stations: 1,236
Huawei Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA)'s supercharging stations: 1,200
GAC Aion's supercharging stations: 1,205. In 2026, GAC will sprint towards the goal of adding 10,000 charging piles to further consolidate its leading position in the OEM self-built supercharging networks.
Voyah's supercharging stations: 104 (200 originally planned). Its original radical plan was to build 1,000 stations by 2026.
Chery Volt-dragon Charger: Released in March 2026. At present, Chery's Volt-dragon Charger is still in the startup stage in terms of network layout. The core task in 2026 is to complete the construction and business model verification of the first batch of 100 V2G demonstration stations in 10 cities, and the ambitious goal of building 20,000 stations will be gradually fulfilled by 2029.
For example: BYD plans to use a three-level network architecture of flagship station + satellite station + community station for large-scale deployment of megawatt flash charging stations through the in-depth vehicle-pile-storage-network coordination to accelerate the construction of a nationwide, grid-friendly, extremely fast recharging network. From 2025 to 2026, BYD's megawatt flash charging stations achieved breakthroughs in first- and second-generation products:
1MW (1000kW) Flash Charger 1.0 (2025): The total power is 1360kW, the peak power of a single gun is 1000kW, and the current of a single gun is 1000A. A range of about 400 kilometers can be achieved after 5 minutes of charging. It can only charge a single vehicle at full power; charging two vehicles simultaneously will result in a significant power reduction due to power diversion.
2100kW Flash Charger 2.0 (2026): The rated maximum output power is 2100kW (2.1 MW), the peak power of a single gun is 1500kW. A range of about 480-500 kilometers can be achieved after 5 minutes of charging. It only takes 9 minutes to go from 10% to 97%, which is close to the refueling speed of a fuel vehicle. T-type dual-gun flexible power sharing:
Only one vehicle is charged: 1500kW ultra-fast flash charging;
Two vehicles are charged at the same time: the two guns share 2100kW, and both vehicles can maintain high power and will not compete with each other for power to make charging slow down.
Heat dissipation and hardware iteration: with fully liquid-cooled suspension slide design, a charging gun only weighs 2kg, easy to operate with one hand; SiC power module upgrade, 1000V/1500A stable output, minimal charging attenuation in -30°C extreme cold environment.
Capacity expansion of supporting energy storage system: The second-generation pile is equipped with a large-capacity energy storage cabinet as standard, which has the capability of peak-shaving and valley-filling.
Mass production of megawatt charging stations has started: passenger car megawatt charging stations are being constructed on a large scale, and commercial vehicles have fully expanded into trunk logistics/heavy truck scenarios
Megawatt supercharging technology (power reaching 1,000 kilowatts and above) is becoming a key breakthrough to promote the full electrification of new energy vehicles. Megawatt charging generally adopts full-domain 1000V and above high-voltage architectures, and some commercial vehicle solutions have been advanced to 1250V-1500V.
In the passenger car field, megawatt supercharging is moving from being a must-have for high-end vehicle models to becoming popular among all vehicle models. Top three companies in passenger car megawatt piles: BYD (1.5MW) > ZEEKR V4 (1.3MW) > Huawei (1MW passenger car solution). All three companies adopt full-domain 1000V/liquid-cooled/energy storage or power pool architectures. BYD has decentralized megawatt charging to RMB110,000 vehicle models (Seal 06/Song Ultra) as the most aggressive proponent of the passenger car megawatt charging route.
Compared with passenger cars, commercial vehicles (especially heavy trucks) have huge battery capacities and require extremely high charging efficiency. MW supercharging can compress the recharging time of heavy trucks to less than 15 minutes, completely opening up the commercial closed loop of replacing fuel with electricity for heavy trucks. China sees the fastest large-scale commercialization: Huawei, BYD, ZEEKR, TELD, Winline Technology, State Grid, etc. have started commercial operations in trunk lines/mining areas/ports, and national standards for megawatt charging are expected to be released within the year. North America is still formulating technical specifications and conducting the first batch of corridor pilots, and Europe relies on Milence/AFIR to promote public MCS corridors.
Commercial Vehicle Megawatt Charging VS Passenger Car Megawatt Charging:
-Similarity:
a.Both adopt 1000V and above high voltage platforms + SiC power chips
b.Both require full-link liquid cooling (battery end + pile + gun)
c.Both need to handle power grid impact (storage-charging integration/photovoltaic-storage-charging Microgrid/V2mG)
-Difference:
a.Battery capacity: The battery capacity of commercial vehicles is 3-4 times higher than that of passenger cars;
b.Charging rate: The charging rate of commercial vehicle megawatt charging is lower than passenger car megawatt charging, mainly because the commercial vehicle battery capacity is higher;
c.Passenger car megawatt charging and commercial vehicle megawatt charging belong to two separate standard systems, with incompatible interfaces and non-interoperable protocols;
d.Charging interface: Commercial vehicle megawatt charging uses an MCS-specific inverted triangle connector, while passenger car megawatt charging uses the same charging interface as fast charging;
e.Grid access: Commercial vehicle megawatt charging involves 10kV~110kV direct connection, but the grid access voltage of passenger cars is lower than that of commercial vehicles;
f.Thermal management: Commercial vehicle megawatt charging heat dissipation standards are higher, and traditional air cooling has reached the physical limit at 3000A current.
Megawatt charging will inevitably develop toward the in-depth collaboration of "vehicle-station-network":
1.Photovoltaic-storage-charging integration: Megawatt charging stations will be equipped with energy storage systems as standard, using energy storage to cut peaks and fill valleys, and smooth the instantaneous impact of high-power charging on the bulk power grid.
2.Vehicle-to-grid (V2G): A virtual power plant is built by aggregating the battery resources of massive heavy trucks or passenger cars. For example, Tangshan has gathered more than 100,000 heavy trucks to participate in power grid regulation and charge during low load periods, which not only meets recharging needs, but also assists the power grid in peak regulation and obtains financial compensation.
3.Standard system construction: The National Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (MIIT) has included megawatt charging of commercial vehicles into crucial deployment and promotes the formation of a national recommended standard system covering charging interfaces, diversion, cooling and communications to support the high-speed charging of vehicle models such as heavy trucks.
The energy interaction system of the automotive supercharging system has evolved from one-way recharging to a three-dimensional network with two-way interaction and multi-energy-source collaboration, including V2G, grid-forming supercharging, photovoltaic-storage-charging-swapping integration, and vehicle-pile in-depth collaboration
The automotive supercharging system has four energy interaction models by "interaction object and energy flow", and three layers - physical layer, platform layer and strategy layer by "functional level". The core relationship is: V2X constitutes the underlying layer capability, Microgrid/V2mG and grid-forming supercharging provide the physical carrier, virtual power plants, orderly charging and energy management/trusteeship realize platform aggregation, autonomous driving self-scheduling represents the ultimate form of the future.
1.Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is scaled up, and vehicles are transformed into "mobile energy storage pools"
The positioning of new energy vehicles is changing from a simple means of transportation to a storage device for new power systems. Relying on V2G (two-way charging and discharging) technology, electric vehicles can realize two-way energy flow of low valley power storage and peak power supply. The national "15th Five-Year Plan" has clearly stated that by 2030, the aggregated adjustable charging scale enabled by V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) will reach approximately 50GW. By participating in peak shaving and valley filling, virtual power plants and aggregation transactions, massive new energy vehicles will become mobile energy storage resources that can be flexibly dispatched by the power grid, achieving deep integration of transportation and energy systems.
2.Grid-forming supercharging technology builds new power system nodes
Grid-forming supercharging is the latest direction in the evolution of supercharging technology. The core idea is to build an independent Microgrid/V2mG in charging stations, so that supercharging stations no longer completely rely on the capacity and stability of the external power grid, but independently establish voltage and frequency through "grid-forming energy storage + photovoltaic-storage-charging integration" to fundamentally handle the impact of high-power supercharging on the power grid. Grid-forming supercharging technology is promoting the transformation of charging infrastructure from a single recharging service to a comprehensive energy service provider through triple (cost reduction, efficiency improvement and emission reduction) value creation.
Grid-forming supercharging represents the paradigm shift of supercharging infrastructure from "depending on the grid" to "self-building the grid", and is the key technical path to solve the contradiction between high-power charging and grid carrying capacity. So far, grid-forming supercharging technology has entered the stage of large-scale application and has become a key layout direction for leading companies in the industry.
PISEN VAULT: In conjunction with Shenzhen Automotive Research Institute of Beijing Institute of Technology, it released the "Photovoltaic-Storage Megawatt Supercharging - Green Electricity Direct Connection Technology Solution" and successfully launched the first grid-forming photovoltaic-storage-charging-discharging integrated demonstration station in Longgang District, Shenzhen;
Huawei Digital Energy: The distributed Microgrid/V2mG solution of "megawatt supercharging + photovoltaic-storage grid-forming" proposed by it has been deployed on a large scale in many high-speed logistics trunk lines and heavy truck operating areas in Shandong and Guangdong to help the electrification of heavy trucks so as to reduce costs and carbon emissions;
State Grid Jibei Electric Power: The first city-level comprehensive supercharging port in Zhangjiakou that integrates photovoltaics, energy storage, supercharging, and V2G in northern Hebei has been put into operation to create a "vehicle-station-grid-energy" collaborative demonstration scenario;
Envision Group: The "Artificial Intelligence Super Storage and Charging Network" released by it uses AI algorithms and intelligent microgrid control to achieve efficient coordination of energy storage and charging, helping the power grid solve capillary problems on the distribution network.
3.Photovoltaic-storage-charging-swapping integration builds a Microgrid/V2mG buffer ecosystem
With the implementation of ultra-high-power charging technologies such as megawatt flash charging, the load-bearing pressure on the power grid has become the biggest bottleneck. The supercharging energy interaction system is accelerating towards "photovoltaic-storage-charging-swap integration". Charging stations will be deeply integrated with photovoltaic power generation and energy storage system (ESS) which stores electricity during off-peak hours and discharges at peak load, mitigating instantaneous impact on the bulk power grid caused by high-power charging. At the same time, supercharging and swapping modes are moving toward scenario-based integration. supercharging-swapping integrated stations leverage shared prefabricated substations and charging modules to significantly reduce energy conversion losses and build a more efficient and adaptable recharging Microgrid/V2mG architecture.
Short-term: Industrial parks and ports take the lead in scaling up, and Microgrid/V2mG pilots in villages and towns are accelerated;
Mid-term: Microgrid/V2mG clusters "go on the grid" through virtual power plant aggregation and participate in power market transactions and grid auxiliary services;
Long-term: Microgrid/V2mG becomes the "standard unit" of the new power system, forming a three-layer "main-distribution-micro" collaborative system with the main grid to achieve precise production, efficient storage and intelligent distribution of energy.
4.Autonomous driving self-scheduling, full-link intelligent interaction
Autonomous driving self-scheduling is the ultimate evolutionary direction of V2G. It fundamentally solves the dispatch problem of VPPs and transforms electric vehicles from passively regulated dispersed resources into autonomous mobile energy storage agents.
When the "mobility capability" of autonomous driving is deeply integrated with the "energy capability" of V2G, every electric vehicle will be a micro power plant that moves autonomously, makes decisions, and trades autonomously. This is not only a revolution in recharging methods, but also the ultimate form of integration of transportation and energy systems.