World's Largest EV Charging Station With 258 Chargers Makes Superchargers Look Inadequate

Chinese car manufacturer Build Your Dreams (BYD) has partnered with multinational oil and gas company Shell to open a massive EV charging station in Shenzen, China. It features 258 public fast-charging points, making it the world's largest EV charging station.

Known officially as the Shell Recharge Shenzhen Airport EV Station, this signals that oil companies are entirely into the EV business. This contrasts with the initial charging networks made years ago, spearheaded by car brands like Tesla.

In the United States, the Tesla charging network is sizable, but we've yet to see the Texas-based carmaker put up that number of superchargers in just one spot. To put this into perspective, Shell claims it can serve more than 3,300 EVs in a single day during its trial operations period.

Due to its size, there's the question of whether it makes a huge dent in the power grid in its vicinity. This, however, isn't the case since Shell says the station can generate up to 300,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity on its own thanks to the facility's rooftop solar panels.

Why did BYD, of all companies, decide to prop up a charging station this large? The BYD Song Pro, one of the most popular EVs in China, is a direct rival to the hot-selling Tesla Model Y, making this collaboration beneficial to increase the visibility of the homegrown contender. Shenzhen, after all, is the car maker's home turf.

There's also the fact that EVs are so popular among Chinese consumers, so much so that Ford admitted that the Eastern nation is winning the EV race.

Comparatively, the United States has likewise seen an uptick in EV charging infrastructure in the past years, with Tesla dominating the market. Other entities, like retail giant Walmart, intend to create thousands of charging stations. Even Subway - yes, the sandwich chain - is getting in on the action thanks to its partnership with GenZ EV Solutions.

That said, Shell's fancy new charging station in China sure is impressive. But we reckon something as large (or even larger) might pop up stateside given the Americans' increasing - albeit turtle-paced - adoption of EVs.