BEIJING: BYD on Monday unveiled a new platform for electric vehicles (EVs) that it said could charge EVs as quickly as it takes to pump gas and announced for the first time that it would build a charging network across China.

The so-called `super e-platform` will be capable of peak charging speeds of 1,000 kilowatts (kW), enabling cars that use it to travel 400 km (249 miles) on a 5-minute charge, founder Wang Chuanfu said at an event livestreamed from the company`s Shenzhen headquarters.

Charging speeds of 1,000 kW would be twice as fast as Tesla`s superchargers whose latest version offers up to 500 kw charging speeds. Fast-charging technology has been key to increasing EV adoption as it is seen to help assure EV drivers` concerns over being able to charge their cars quickly.

`In order to completely solve our user`s charging anxiety, we have been pursuing a goal to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refuelling time of petrol vehicles,` Wang said.

`This is the first time in the industry that the unit of megawatt (charge) has been achieved on charging power,` he said. The new charging architecture will be initially available in two new EVs Han L sedan and Tang L SUV priced from 270,000 yuan ($37,328.91) and BYD said it would build over 4,000 ultra-fast charging piles, or units, across China to match the new platform.

The company didn`t specify the time frame or how much it would invest in building such facilities. To date, BYD owners have largely relied on other automakers` charging facilities or public charging poles run by thirdparty operators to charge their vehicles.

Tesla has offered its superchargers in China since 2014 and BYD`s smaller Chinese peers such as Nio, Li Auto , Xpeng and Zeekr have also been investing extensively and building charging facilities for years.-Reuters