Sinopec petrol station in Shanghai has been converted to a charging hub, complete with 12 stalls, a rest area, and a convenience store. More petrol stations will follow, according to Sinopec, China s largest Fel Retailer.
This is not just fixing couple of chargers onto a corner. Sinopec pulled the underground Fuel tanks out of the ground and turned the whole site into an EV-only charging hub.wapped the pumps for BYD’s 1,500 kW flash chargers.
This comes after the automaker and the state-owned petroleum giant forged a partnership in June of 2024.
10 to 70% in 5 mins!
On a compatible car with a second-gen Blade battery, this station will charge 10 to 70% in about five minutes. Flash Charging is one of BYD’s flagship technologies, and the automaker claims the tech will bring EV charging times in line with refuelling a combustion vehicle.
No other country has 1,500 kW charging capable cars, but it will eventually come. BYD is not the only player offering the faster electric fueling. Xpeng focuses on ultra-fast DC charging and NIO emphasizes rapid battery swaps, BYD’s approach integrates advanced buffer batteries and enhanced customer amenities, aiming a more comprehensive charging experience.
The Shanghai station is the first Flash Charging hub to be converted and jointly operated by the two parties. It is expected that similar conversions will be rolled out to other Sinopec stations.
The hub is equipped with 12 stalls, with 6 “T” shaped stands, each with two charging cables. The rest area includes a break room with tables and reclining chairs, as well as a “health monitoring station” that measures blood oxygen saturation and heart rate.
The scale is the key. Synopec runs more than 30,000 service stations, over 14,000 charging and battery-swap stations, and serves roughly 20 million customers a day. And BYD will be adding 20,000 Flash charging stations across China, almost tripling the anount of Tesla Superchargers.
100 kW grid to boost 1500 kW!
The Power, a 1.5 MW charger drawing straight from the grid would need a substation-grade connection. Here it wasn’t a requrement. Each charger is backed by four Blade LFP battery packs holding up to 185 kWh, and those buffers deliver the megawatt burst to the car. The site only pulls about 100 kW from the grid to keep the batteries charged, mostly during the off peak!
The underground Fuel tans have been dug up to give space to the batteries. So an old fuel station can do megawatt charging without a grid modernization. The Battery Buffer also works as backup power if the grid drops, which keeps the chargers live during a blackout. (Sources CarNewsChinaDaily and ElecTrec)
Sri Lankan Case
Most Sri lankan fuel stations are build in high value city properties, which will not be profitable to many owners already. And we have seen a few exited from the business. We spoke of this phenominan years ago.
However, the EV charging stations are not getting enough business and profits as in China. This is owing to the poor policy level decisions. Even in the other parts of the world, there are heavy subsidies and incentives for EV infrastructure development.
Although Sri lanka economy cannot withstand subsidies at this stage, at least favoration should be there on EV imports. Theres no room for quality EV s above 100 kW due to poor taxation policies. In fact BYD ATTO 3 too has been discontinued since its available only in 150 kW poer, globally.
The current 100 kW tax barrier is the main loophole in the system to attract better EVs. The 100 kW tariff to be applied up to 150 kW pwerd cars to ensure fair play and to tax in par with ICE and PHEV, which still burns imported fuel.
Given the EV Volumes, battery powered high speed charging will be a reality, even with a weaker grid. Scale is a must, for any enterprise to thrive. The EV and the Mobility poliy of Sri Lanka should come first!