Chinese automaker BYD continues to leave Tesla in the dust. The company introduced a new battery system on Monday that it claims can charge an electric vehicle in just five minutes, about the same time it takes to refuel a traditional car.

Speedy new chargers from Chinese automaker BYD take just 5 minutes to restore 400 kilometres of an electric car’s range

Wang Chuanfu, the Shenzhen-based group’s billionaire founder, unveiled a new charging system that could add about 470km in range to BYD’s own batteries in just five minutes. The release of the so-called Super e-Platform has thrust BYD to the front of an industry-wide race to develop battery cells for electric vehicles that will make refuelling electric vehicles as fast as filling up cars with petrol or diesel.