Overview
- BYD and Yum China signed a strategic cooperation to install BYD Flash chargers at KFC drive‑thru locations across China, creating what they call a nine‑minute one‑stop refuel for people and cars.
- BYD introduced an in‑car smart‑ordering feature that lets drivers browse the KFC menu, pay, and get pickup prompts on the route, starting with the Fangchengbao Ti7 SUV before a wider rollout.
- BYD says it has completed 5,000 Flash charging stations in China and is targeting 20,000 by the end of 2026, while KFC’s roughly 13,000 outlets across about 2,500 cities offer broad sites for co‑located chargers.
- The nine‑minute claim rests on BYD’s new Blade Battery 2.0 and Flash Charging tech, which the company says can charge from 10% to 97% in nine minutes, a figure not independently verified in the reports.
- The companies pitch the setup as easing on‑the‑go charging pain points at a time when BYD has reported a year‑over‑year drop in first‑quarter domestic sales and its first annual profit decline since 2021.