The Most Important EV News: Five-Minute Charging

By Douglas McIntyre  •  June 30, 2026
Ed Harvey Pexels

If there is anything that has held the EV business back in the US and possibly Europe, it is that charging times can be as long as 12 hours on home chargers. On a Tesla Supercharger, many drivers can add 180 miles of charge in less than 20 minutes. Americans are used to gas engine tanks, filled completely in five minutes. 

Now the EV industry has a five-minute charger. According to The Information,  “In recent months, China’s two leading battery makers—Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. and BYD—have both released batteries that charge an EV to 98% of capacity in 9 minutes, and to 70% or 80% in as little as 5 minutes.” The publication, however, writes that US companies are not lining up for the new technology. 

The EV industry in the US has not fallen apart, but it is close. GM and Ford have exited the business. So, with several other legacy car makers selling vehicles here, it would not be a stretch to say that if Ford had an ultrafast charger, it might well have had a profitable EV operation. And, EVs would have a much larger market share.

EVs have other hurdles. The range an EV can travel, which averages about 300 miles, is a drawback. Superfast charging makes that easier to handle, particularly if the number of charging stations rises.

Another astonishing part of the story is that Tesla has not adopted the technology. Elon Musk is the premier technologist in the world. He is acutely aware of the reasons EV adoption has slowed, and presumably, what would speed it up again, 

EV challenges won’t disappear completely soon. Prices for new EVs average about $10,000 higher than gas-powered ones. The EV industry has struggled to put a $25,000 car on the road. In China, this has not been a problem.

Five-minute charging is the future of the EV industry, but perhaps not in America.

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