Chinese automaker Geely Auto has unveiled a new generation of artificial intelligence-powered charging technology as it steps up competition with BYD in the ultra-fast electric vehicle charging market.

Geely launched its Smart Charging technology in Ningbo on Wednesday alongside the fifth-generation Geely Smart Charging Station.

The company said its Shendun Golden Battery, developed for ultra-fast charging and high performance, supports a peak charging rate of up to 12C.

In tests, the Lynk & Co 10 and Zeekr 001 equipped with the battery charged from 10 per cent to 70 per cent in four minutes and 30 seconds, while charging from 10 per cent to 97 per cent took eight minutes and 40 seconds.

Geely said the results represent the fastest production-ready charging performance recorded to date.

BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery, paired with the company’s new-generation flash charging pile unveiled in March, takes five minutes to charge from 10 per cent to 70 per cent and nine minutes to reach 97 per cent under normal temperatures.

Geely’s fifth-generation Smart Charging Station has a peak charging power of 2,250 kilowatts, exceeding the 1,500kW maximum single-gun output of BYD’s flash charging pile.

At the centre of Geely’s new charging system is Xingrui PowerMind, an energy-focused AI model jointly developed with Chinese AI startup StepFun.

The model coordinates the vehicle, battery, charging station, cloud, power grid and energy storage system to develop charging strategies tailored to individual vehicles, according to Geely.

The development highlights the intensifying competition among Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers to reduce charging times and improve the convenience of EV ownership.