BYD looking to build 5-minute EV charging network in Canada

The current laws ban cars connected to/associated with China, not just their manufacturing location. Polestar was recently banned entirely even though one of their cars was manufactured in the US. BYD cars manufactured in Canada would still be banned from import.

Although decisions have been arbitrary and capricious lately, and laws haven't been consistently enforced.

Its fairly cool because, in order to deliver current at these rates, battery storage colocation is typically required (as utility power can rarely deliver this current at these speeds). Every fast DC charge station becomes a battery storage node on the electrical grid, and in the aggregate, they become a distributed virtual power plant. They will soak up low carbon energy when cheap, and could potentially discharge for energy price arb distinct from EV fast DC charging, while also acting as distributed grid health support (frequency and voltage support).

Five minute charging and grid support to deprecate thermal generation is solved simultaneously, with batteries that continue to rapidly decline in price.

CATL now sells batteries online for $63/kWh - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49438604 - August 2026 (4 comments)

Battery costs have declined by 99% in the last three decades, making electrified transport a reality - https://ourworldindata.org/battery-price-decline (First published in 2024; updated and rewritten in March 2026)