Chinese EV maker BYD (1211.HK) stock jumped on Monday after the company said it would reveal “disruptive technology” at an event later this week. This comes after BYD said global sales tumbled in February.
BYD announced that the upcoming event will occur at its Shenzhen HQ via an official WeChat post, though no other details were provided, according to Chinese EV blog CnEVPost.
Rumors suggest BYD’s new details could be linked to a large-scale deployment of megawatt-level flash-charging infrastructure.
BYD shares listed in Hong Kong jumped 4% on Monday.
The Chinese automaker was reportedly testing a 1,500-kilowatt charging system and a dedicated Flash Charging app. The company was spotted testing the chargers over the weekend.
An X.com user showed the charger adding around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of range per second and suggested the system could add 400 km (248.5 miles) of range in just five minutes, as noted by news blog EV.
The disruptive technology teaser comes after BYD posted a big drop in sales for the month of February.
On Sunday, BYD said new energy vehicle (NEV) sales, which include hybrids and EVs, fell to 190,190 units, down 41% compared to a year ago, according to CnEVPost. February’s total is also down 9.5% sequentially compared to a year ago.
BYD’s pure EV sales fell 36.3% to 79,539 units sold in the same period.
A big part of the drop in February, however, is due to the Chinese New Year holiday, which this year fell between Feb. 15 and 23. During this time, much of the country shuts down as many people travel home for the holiday. Last year, the Lunar New Year primarily took place in January, following the lunar calendar.
Tesla (TSLA), a main rival to BYD and other major Chinese automakers, does not break down its sales data by region or month. However, in a few weeks, China’s main passenger vehicle authority, CPCA, will announce production and sales volume for domestic manufacturers, including Tesla, which produces vehicles for China and other markets at its Giga Shanghai plant.
In January, Tesla’s China wholesale vehicle sales jumped 9.3% from a year ago to 63,000 units, but that was a 29% drop compared to December, which is typically a high-sales month.
Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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