The new 480kW fast chargers will 'disrupt' EV uptake as owners won't need a gas car for longer trips, says XPeng CEO

Commenting on the record high gas prices in China, the humble CEO of XPeng Motors, one of China's most successful EV startups, said that the advent of ultrafast chargers will "disrupt" the whole industry like nothing before it. "We will complete the layout of the new supercharging stations in the country's major highways and along their routes as soon as possible," confirmed He Xiaopeng, as a means to combat high gas prices and spearhead EV uptake.

The XPeng electric vehicles like the new G9 SUV offer 800V fast-charging technology that can top up their big batteries to 80% in just 12 minutes with the company's custom 480kW chargers. For comparison, Tesla's Superchargers max out at 250kW. Such a rapid top-off will eliminate the need to maintain one electric vehicle for the city and another gas-powered car for longer trips as many a family are forced to do now, he added.

In the not-too-distant future, the [EV] experience will be disrupted, whether it is holiday travel, going home for the New Year, or long-distance travel. It turns out that many families have two cars: EVs in urban areas, and petrol cars in suburbs. The system will soon be changed.

Recently, a fast charging range experiment with an electric Porsche Taycan netted a coast-to-coast trip in the US with less than 2.5 hours spent on the charger. This "hypermiling" record was made possible by the Taycan's 800V charging technology and the availability of Electrify America's CCS DC 350KW charging stations.

The Taycan EV can be brought to 80% charge in about 22 minutes with those, whereas XPeng's 480kW ultrafast charging network can achieve the same feat in 12, paving the road for faster electric vehicle uptake and greatly diminished range anxiety. XPeng is not the only one building a 480kW set of chargers as GAC Aion is also hard at work lining major roads with such powerful stalls that can deliver 125 miles (200km) of range in five minutes of charging, too.

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