Hongqi says an experimental electric-vehicle battery developed with Lishen Battery charged from 10% to 70% in 3 minutes and 41 seconds during a controlled test. The same pack reportedly reached 97% from a 10% starting point in 8 minutes and 3 seconds, placing the FAW Group brand among the Chinese companies pursuing ever-shorter charging times.
The trial was carried out at 77°F (25°C). Hongqi said the battery reached a peak charging rate of 12C, meaning it could charge at 12 times the pack’s capacity. On that basis, an 80-kWh battery would briefly require roughly 960 kW, although FAW has not disclosed the tested pack’s actual capacity or peak charging power.
According to FAW, the battery uses a new anode, electrolyte and carbon-coating process intended to reduce internal resistance. A liquid-cooling system was also used, with the company saying the temperature difference across the pack remained within 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit during charging. The test was conducted with a single experimental battery rather than a vehicle available to customers.
FAW had previously announced work on a 1,000-volt electric-vehicle architecture designed to reach an 80% state of charge in five minutes. The source says the architecture and the new battery project could be connected, but FAW has not confirmed such a link.
The automaker has not identified the battery’s chemistry, its capacity, the exact peak power recorded in the test or the vehicle that might use it. It has also given no timetable for customer availability. As a result, the reported charging figures have not yet been demonstrated in a production car or shown to be repeatable outside controlled conditions.
Hongqi’s result arrives amid a fast-charging contest involving loveral Chinese automakers and battery suppliers. BYD previously demonstrated a one-megawatt system that added more than 50% charge to a production Han L sedan in under five minutes. Its Super e-Platform supports up to 1,000 kilowatts and is claimed to add nearly 250 miles of range in five minutes.
CATL says its third-generation Shenxing LFP battery can move from 10% to 80% in 3 minutes and 44 seconds, then reach 98% in 6 minutes and 27 seconds. The company also claims the battery can retain more than 90% of its original capacity after 1,000 ultra-fast charging cycles, although those figures remain claims rather than a production-vehicle demonstration in the source.
Geely brands have reported similar tests. The Lynk & Co 10 reached 70% from 10% in 4 minutes and 22 seconds and 97% in 8 minutes and 42 seconds, briefly peaking near 1,100 kW. Zeekr showed an updated 001 charging from roughly 4% to 80% in under seven minutes while exceeding 1.3 megawatts. CATL has also announced a commercial-vehicle battery claiming a 20% to 80% charge in under seven minutes, with a full charge taking two additional minutes.
For Hongqi, the next step is evidence in a production vehicle, along with repeatable charging performance and infrastructure capable of supplying the required power. Until FAW provides those details, the result remains a controlled experimental test that illustrates the speed of China’s charging-development race rather than a customer-ready breakthrough.
