Looking to regain momentum in a highly competitive Chinese market after a sales slump, on March 5, Wang Chuanfu-led electric vehicle giant BYD unveiled its first major battery upgrade in six years. The second-generation Blade Battery can reportedly charge from 20% to 97% in under 12 minutes, even at -20°C, delivering a driving range of 777 km.
Stating that the EV industry’s current solution to range anxiety depended upon building larger batteries and more charging stations, which led to a resource waste without addressing the underlying problem, Chuanfu, during the product’s launch event in Shenzhen, said, “The only way out is to make charging as fast and convenient as refuelling a gas car. Once we replicate that refuelling experience, these anxieties will vanish.”
Wang further told the audience that the Chinese EV giant, Tesla’s main competitor, would build a network of 20,000 “flash charging” stations across the world’s second-largest economy by the end of 2026, with 18,000 of them to be incorporated within existing facilities. These charging stations will hit a peak output of 1,500kW.
Reacting to the news, industry analysts told Reuters that the product launch may not be the silver bullet for BYD, as Chinese consumers seek more affordable options.
Eugene Hsiao, an analyst at Australian-based global financial services firm Macquarie, said, “Given the weakness in the Chinese EV market, we don’t expect shares to be easily recovered and remain watchful to see how volumes play out.”
Along with the battery, BYD also launched an updated version of the Denza Z9 GT, a premium electric vehicle featuring a range of up to 1,036km (644 miles) powered by the Blade Battery 2.0, with a starting price of 269,800 yuan (USD 39,105). It will go toe-to-toe against Tesla’s most advanced V4 supercharger, with peak charge rates up to 500kW. The vehicle was launched in mainland China in June 2025.
The Blade Battery 2.0’s launch also comes amid Beijing’s push for a shift toward a value-driven auto market, steering BYD and its industry peers away from punishing price wars, with consumers also looking out for quality.
BYD saw its total vehicle sales fall 35.8% year on year to 400,241 units in the first two months of 2026. In the third quarter of 2025, the company’s net profit slumped 32.6% year-on-year, while the average selling prices of new renewable energy vehicles fell 11% to 195,000 yuan, a phenomenon which the China Passenger Car Association termed as the biggest drop in around three years. The ongoing price war has also squeezed industry suppliers, with carmakers stretching payment cycles to as long as one year.
Battling the situation, BYD is rolling out longer-range plug-in hybrids, apart from joining Tesla in offering seven-year low-interest financing plans. However, it is yet to reverse a slump in domestic sales attributed to the EV giant’s diminishing technological leadership, according to the Chinese media reports. BYD’s early 2025 innovation pitches failed to stem the sales slide, and so far in 2026, the numbers have fallen further, with the automaker being overtaken by local rival Geely.
The company will also have to deal with the expiration of China’s tax exemption on purchases of EVs and plug-in hybrids, which resulted in the legacy automakers like Volkswagen gaining big time, with the German automaker regaining its top-selling position in the world’s second-largest economy in January 2026.