Geely has just launched its own version of BYD’s new Flash charging setup that has already arrived in the UK – and the Chinese giant says Geely Smart charging can manage peak charging speeds of 2,250kW. 

It’ll get you to 70% charge in 4.5 minutes thanks to an AI-led approach to super speedy charging system – Geely’s using newly developed software that predicts the temperature changes through the battery and charging equipment so that it can pre-empt rather than react.

It’s all designed to keep the battery’s average charging temperatures to just 55ºC, using a five-point liquid cooling setup that keeps things chilled across everything from the charging station to the battery pack. 

So how does Geely’s new Smart charging compare with Flash charging? Geely wins on the headline numbers – 2,250kW peak speeds versus 1,500kW for BYD.

​Geely says it has tested the new charging on the battery pack used in the Lynk & Co 10 and Zeekr 001 models that are part of the Geely family, getting from 10–70% in four minutes and 30 seconds, and from 10–97% in eight minutes and 40 seconds. 

That’s versus the five-minute and nine-minute figures for the same charging that we’ve had from BYD and its Flash chargers, although of course BYD wins for already having built 10,000 of its chargers in China and promising 300 in the UK before the end of the year.  

Geely wins further points for the name of its new Smart charging compatible battery – it’s called the Shendun Golden Battery, which sounds much better than Blade 2. 

Geely also says it has developed tech that uses “micro-pulse currents to reactivate lithium ions accumulated at the negative electrodes”, which sounds like something from a moisturiser adverts, but is actually a way of repairing the damage caused by ultra-rapid charging and extending battery life by 20%. 

Geely has only just revealed the tech in China, so there’s no word yet on whether and when it’ll arrive in the UK, but it’s understood the company is planning to roll out Smart charging to Europe. 

Ironically we could see it arriving in an actual Smart car, as well as any of the company’s other brands that include Lotus and Volvo.

Interestingly, Geely has just revealed the second-generation of its EX5 SUV that went on sale in the UK last year – that gets a lesser powered version of the new system that gets to 70% in just under 10 minutes, so Geely could be about to raise the game across the board.