This New Electric Car Nearly Fills Its Battery In Under 9 Minutes

• The Geely group’s Lynk & Co 10+ charges at over 1.1 megawatts.
• It can charge from 10-97% in under 9 minutes, quicker than an equivalent BYD.
• China’s charging arms race is escalating fast, with more brands now pushing beyond 1 megawatt.

BYD was the first automaker to launch a production electric car capable of charging at over 1 megawatt, which allowed it to add 250 miles (400 km) of CLTC range in just 5 minutes. Now the race is on in China to deliver charging speeds that are about as quick as getting gas. 

The latest to join the party is the updated Lynk & Co 10+ electric sedan, whose high-voltage architecture and battery pack enable it to charge at over 1.1 megawatts.

The Geely-owned brand says that using a 900-volt Shield Gold Brick battery in the 10+ sedan allows charging from 10-70% in 4 minutes and 22 seconds and from 10-80% in 5 minutes and 32 seconds, with an average charging power of 492 kW. Charging close to full (97%) is also remarkably quick at just 8 minutes 42 seconds, with the average dropping to 272 kW.

There are still big questions about this kind of charging, regardless of the automaker behind it. What will happen to these batteries over many years of ultra-high-powered charging? Do most people even need a 5-minute charge? Regardless, the strides from Geely and BYD signal that China is leaving the U.S. in the dust when it comes to raw charging power and speed. 

Geely’s numbers are competitive with BYD’s latest megawatt charging, which needs 9 minutes to reach 97% from 10%. The battery in the Lynk & Co has a capacity of around 100 kilowatt-hours and a claimed CLTC range of 507 miles (816 km). One thing that’s important to remember whenever we discuss Chinese-market EV range and charging times: CLTC range is much more city-biased and generous than the EPA figures we’re used to. 

In the charging video published on the company’s official Weibo account, the car shows a range of 494 miles (795 km) at 97% state of charge, which is consistent with the official figure.

The demo was carried out on a Zeekr V4 ultra-fast charger, which matters almost as much as the car itself. Like BYD, Geely is building a charging ecosystem around its newest EVs, though its network is currently far smaller. Zeekr officially describes its V4 charger as capable of delivering up to 1.2 MW, but some reports say it’s even more powerful.

As always with factory charging demos, the result likely came from perfect charging conditions, which are often hard to replicate in the real world, so owners should not expect to reproduce it every time they plug in. 

The Lynk & Co 10+ is built on the Geely group’s modular SEA platform and features a 900-volt Shield Gold Brick battery pack with several innovations, including ones related to cell cooling, that enable ultra-rapid charging. The platform also underpins the Zeekr 001, which was also recently updated to 900 volts, boasting a 10-80% charging time of 7 minutes.

Lynk & Co says the 10+ is more than just a collection of charging figures, pointing to its track-honed handling and peak power output of 912 horsepower. It has a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h) in its most powerful guise. The plan is to launch this car only in China for now, but Lynk & Co also has a presence in Europe. Between BYD’s plans to launch its megawatt “Flash” chargers on the continent and Geely’s new cars, Europe could be the next frontier for super-quick EV charging.