Sinopec rips out gas pumps for BYD's 1,500 kW chargers
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- Sinopec dug out the underground gasoline tanks at its 1209 Huqingping Road station in Shanghai and installed six BYD "T"-shaped chargers with 12 charging spots, each rated up to 1,500 kW — the first jointly operated site under the BYD-Sinopec partnership
- BYD backs each charger with four Blade LFP battery packs (169-185 kWh) so the station pulls only ~100 kW from the grid while delivering 1,500 kW bursts; a compatible car goes 10-70% in ~5 minutes and 10-97% in ~9 minutes, stretching to ~12 minutes at -30°C
- The Sinopec site kept the original forecourt pull-in-and-pump layout, retained its 24/7 unmanned "Easy Joy" convenience store, and added a rest area with reclining chairs and a health monitoring station for drivers waiting out fast charges
- The BYD-Sinopec industrial and capital cooperation framework was signed June 3 covering charging networks, integrated services, and supply chain — Sinopec runs 30,000+ service stations and 14,000+ charging/swap stations serving ~20 million customers a day, making every forecourt a conversion candidate
- BYD had built 6,100+ flash charging stations as of late May and is targeting 20,000 across China by end of 2026, leaning on Sinopec's already-located real estate to hit that number without grid upgrades
Why it matters: Sinopec sells fuel to 20 million people a day across 30,000+ stations, so choosing to cannibalize its own forecourts rather than let BYD or anyone else build a rival EV network on new land is the strategic tell. The buffered-battery design — pulling 100 kW from the grid while pushing 1,500 kW to the car — means the playbook is replicable at any of those 30,000 sites today without waiting years for utility upgrades.
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