Hongqi's 8-Minute Charge: 12C Battery Beats BYD's Megawatt Record – But Will It Reach Europe?

## What Hongqi Actually Demonstrated According to CarNewsChina, the test was conducted at a controlled 25°C (77°F). The battery charged from 10% to 70% in 3 minutes and 41 seconds, then continued to 97% in a total of 8 minutes and 3 seconds. The peak charging rate reached 12C — meaning a hypothetical 80 kWh pack would accept roughly 960 kW at its peak. FAW says the achievement comes from a new anode formulation, an optimised electrolyte, and a carbon coating process that reduces internal resistance. Liquid cooling kept the temperature difference across the pack within 5.4°F (3°C) during the entire charge cycle. What we don't know: the battery's capacity, its chemistry (NMC or LFP?), the exact peak power, and — most importantly — which production vehicle will get it and when. FAW previously announced a 1,000-volt architecture targeting 5-minute 80% charging, so this test may be the technology behind that promise. ## How It Compares: BYD, CATL, and the Megawatt Club Hongqi isn't the first to claim sub-5-minute charging. Let's put the numbers side by side: - BYD Super e-Platform (March 2025): Demonstrated 1,000 kW peak on a production Han L sedan, adding over 50% charge in under 5 minutes. BYD's system is already rolling out with 1,000-volt architecture and megawatt chargers in China. - CATL Shenxing Gen 3 LFP (announced June 2026): Claims 10–80% in 3 minutes 44 seconds, and 10–98% in 6 minutes 27 seconds — even faster than Hongqi on paper. CATL also claims over 90% capacity retention after 1,000 cycles. - Hongqi / Lishen (July 2026): 10–97% in 8 minutes 3 seconds at 12C peak. Slower than CATL's claim, but still impressive. What's notable is that BYD's demo was on a production car with a real charging station. Hongqi's test is a lab battery pack — no vehicle integration, no thermal cycling from real driving, no infrastructure limitations. That's a critical difference. ## The European Reality Check Let's be honest: even if Hongqi puts this battery into a production car tomorrow, European buyers won't see 12C charging at their local charger. Our supercharger database of 483 locations across Europe shows that the fastest chargers today top out at 350 kW (roughly 4C for an 80 kWh pack). The cheapest Superchargers in Europe currently charge between €0.35 and €0.65 per kWh — and that's for 250 kW, not 960 kW. To use a 12C battery at its full potential, you'd need a charger capable of delivering nearly 1 MW. Europe has exactly zero public megawatt chargers for passenger cars today. The Tesla Supercharging network maxes out at 250 kW for most vehicles, with V4 cabinets promising up to 500 kW — still half of what Hongqi's pack could theoretically accept. This is the same challenge we discussed in our analysis of Hyundai & Kia's AllDayEnergy bidirectional charging brand: hardware capability means nothing without infrastructure to support it. ## What This Means for the Charging Race The Chinese market is driving charging speeds at a pace that makes European progress look glacial. BYD is already deploying megawatt chargers in China. CATL is supplying Shenxing batteries to multiple OEMs. Now Hongqi joins the fray. But there's a pattern here: every new claim is faster than the last, yet none of these batteries have been tested in real-world conditions by independent third parties. Bjørn Nyland's real-world tests — which we track in our range calculator — consistently show that WLTP figures and lab charging claims are optimistic by 10–30% in real driving. A battery that charges from 10–97% in 8 minutes in a 25°C lab will almost certainly take longer at 0°C in January, or after a fast-driving session that heats the pack. For European buyers, the practical takeaway is this: the technology is advancing rapidly, but the bottleneck has shifted from the battery to the grid and the charger. A 12C battery is impressive engineering, but without 1 MW chargers on every highway rest stop, it's a solution looking for a problem. ## When Could We See This in Europe? Hongqi has already announced plans to build cars in Europe, but the brand remains a niche player here. The EHS7 SUV and EH7 sedan are the models most likely to receive this technology first — but only after a Chinese-market launch, which hasn't been confirmed. Given the timeline of previous Chinese fast-charging rollouts (BYD's megawatt system was announced in March 2025 and is only now appearing at select Chinese stations), European availability is likely 3–4 years away at best. And by then, the record will probably have moved again. ## The Bottom Line Hongqi's 8-minute charge is a genuine technical achievement. A 12C peak rate is remarkable for any chemistry, and the fact that it maintained thermal stability is encouraging. But the gap between a lab demo and a car you can buy and charge at a motorway services is still vast. What this does confirm is that the Chinese battery industry is moving faster than anyone else. European and American manufacturers need to take note — not because these batteries will arrive tomorrow, but because the pace of innovation is accelerating. If you're shopping for an EV today, don't wait for 8-minute charging. Use our EV savings calculator to see if current-generation cars already make financial sense for your driving patterns. The technology will catch up, but the savings start now.

Source: https://insideevs.com/news/803094/hongqi-four-minute-charging-test/