CATL Plans Nationwide Battery Swap Network for Heavy-Duty Trucks, Predicts Over 50% Market Penetration in Three Years

Investing in Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicle Battery Swapping! Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) plans to establish a comprehensive battery swapping network across China, featuring eight main corridors and ten vertical routes. Founder and CEO Zeng Yuqun predicts that the penetration rate of new energy in heavy-duty trucks will exceed 50% within the next three years.

On May 18, CATL launched the world’s first 75# standard battery for heavy-duty vehicle battery swapping. In 2024, it is expected that approximately 82,000 electric heavy-duty trucks will be sold in China, representing a year-on-year increase of 140% and a penetration rate of over 10%. Battery-swapped heavy-duty trucks are experiencing rapid growth. Zeng forecasts that the new energy penetration rate in this sector will surpass 50% in three years. However, the battery swapping model for heavy-duty trucks faces challenges such as standardization issues and the burden of heavy asset models. With the release of favorable policies, battery swapping for heavy-duty trucks is anticipated to expand rapidly.

Mr. Wang, a heavy-duty truck driver with 18 years of experience at Yuanchuan New Energy Co., recently had his first experience with battery swapping on the Cangyu Expressway. “Every time I go out, I am either on the road to charge or charging, which typically takes around seven hours. With battery swapping, it can be completed in just five minutes, saving a significant amount of time overall.”

The Cangyu Expressway runs across Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces, serving as a vital energy artery that transports coal resources from the west to Tianjin and Huanghua ports continuously. “Since last year, we have been constructing battery swapping stations along the Cangyu Expressway with some partners. This expressway spans over 2,000 kilometers, and we expect the first batch of 17 battery swapping stations to be operational by the end of this year,” a staff member from CATL’s subsidiary Times Qi Ji stated. The expressway has already delivered 1,428 battery-swappable heavy-duty trucks and signed intention orders for 6,900 more.

Behind the aggressive push into battery swapping, the new energy heavy-duty truck industry is on the brink of explosive growth. “The heavy-duty truck sector is set to experience a surge, and we predict that the penetration rate of new energy in this segment will exceed 50% in the next three years,” Zeng asserted at the CATL Qi Ji Heavy-Duty Truck Battery Swapping Ecological Conference on May 18. On that day, the China Transportation Association and CATL unveiled the world’s first 75# standard battery for heavy-duty vehicle battery swapping and announced the “Eight Corridors and Ten Verticals” plan, which aims to establish a battery swapping network covering 80% of national trunk transportation capacity by 2030.

Interestingly, CATL, which is heavily investing in battery swapping, is also seeking to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Reports indicate that the company has set the issue price at HKD 263.00 per share and plans to begin trading on May 20.

The battery swapping model reduces the cost of transporting heavy-duty trucks per ton-kilometer. Guan Zhao, Deputy Director of the Transportation Services Division at the Ministry of Transport, noted that in 2024, the expected sales volume of electric heavy-duty trucks in China is around 82,000, reflecting a 140% increase year-on-year, with the penetration rate exceeding 10%. The sales of battery-swapped heavy-duty trucks have also been rapidly increasing, with total sales of approximately 30,000 new energy heavy-duty trucks in the first three months of this year, of which 32.39% were battery-swapped.

Currently, the energy replenishment methods for new energy heavy-duty trucks include charging, LNG (liquefied natural gas), rear-mounted battery swapping, and chassis-mounted battery swapping. “The charging method is technically mature but has slower replenishment speeds; LNG faces challenges mainly due to storage and transport difficulties, as well as high construction costs; rear-mounted battery swapping has limited battery capacity, making it unsuitable for long-distance transportation, and there is a risk of tipping due to its high center of gravity. In contrast, chassis-mounted battery swapping offers a safer and more efficient solution with economic advantages and is currently the optimal choice for energy replenishment in new energy heavy-duty trucks,” a staff member from Times Qi Ji explained.

In addition to Times Qi Ji, other domestic companies focusing on chassis-mounted battery swapping include Aodong New Energy, Geely Remote Automotive, and Jiu Xing Energy.

“First, we validate the technological route. We check if there are any technical bottlenecks or insurmountable gaps; next, we verify the product’s mass production capability to ensure a stable supply chain; finally, we confirm the commercial sustainability to ensure our partners achieve real benefits,” Zeng emphasized. He believes that the core competitiveness of new energy heavy-duty trucks ultimately lies in the transport cost per ton-kilometer. “Calculating based on a heavy-duty truck running 100,000 kilometers a year, a truck utilizing the Qi Ji chassis battery swapping system saves 0.62 yuan per kilometer compared to traditional fuel trucks, leading to an additional earnings of 60,000 yuan per year. Even when compared to LNG models, the battery swapping solution saves 0.2 yuan per kilometer, generating an extra 20,000 yuan annually, and the electricity price remains stable, unaffected by fluctuations in gas prices,” said Yang Jun, CEO of Times Qi Ji.

This cost reduction also translates into time savings. “For the logistics route the drivers cover, which is over 900 kilometers, charging is typically needed about four times. If we switch to battery swapping, the logistics time can be shortened by around eight hours. What used to take two days for a driver can now be completed in a day and a half. Extending this timeline over a year means that logistics companies can recoup operational costs more quickly,” explained Guo Qiang, Operations Manager at Yuanchuan New Energy Co.

Despite the benefits of saving time and reducing costs, the chassis-mounted battery swapping model faces challenges in implementation. The primary bottleneck restricting industry development is the standardization issue. “The incompatibility of equipment and technology standards between swapping stations, poor compatibility among different vehicle models, and low density of swapping station layout have confined heavy-duty truck battery swapping to niche scenarios within enclosed environments, making it difficult to scale up for broader market application,” an employee from a heavy-duty truck logistics company shared. This limitation is one of the reasons why battery swapping for heavy-duty trucks has remained confined to ports, mines, and other closed environments.

Therefore, one of the significant challenges for chassis-mounted battery swapping is achieving cross-brand and cross-model compatibility, allowing any heavy-duty truck to quickly swap batteries at various stations. “Qi Ji swapping stations can accommodate over 95% of mainstream vehicle models available in the market. By utilizing infinite wheelbase adjustment and posture adaptive technology, different brands and models can efficiently swap batteries at one station,” Yang added. It is noteworthy that the 75# standardized battery block released by CATL can also meet the standardization needs of the battery swapping model.

Another reason for the difficulty in implementing the battery swapping model is its reliance on a heavy asset model, which involves high investment costs. “The construction cost of a battery swapping station is approximately 5 million yuan, in addition to costs for land infrastructure, electrical support, and operational maintenance, resulting in significant initial financial pressure. Currently, the battery swapping stations along the Cangyu Expressway often adopt a collaborative construction model to share risks across the industrial chain,” a staff member from Times Qi Ji noted. Although the initial investment is high, the industry is optimistic about long-term returns. As economies of scale emerge and technology evolves, unit costs are expected to continue to decline.

Despite the many challenges, the new energy heavy-duty truck battery swapping industry is entering a period of substantial policy support, aided by the ongoing promotion of the “dual carbon” strategy. Recently, Shanxi Province introduced the country’s first local standard for chassis-mounted battery swapping stations for new energy heavy-duty trucks, titled “Construction Guidelines for Battery Swapping Stations for Pure Electric Chassis-Mounted Heavy-Duty Trucks”, which will come into effect on July 10 this year. The guidelines outline basic principles for constructing battery swapping stations, site selection planning, power supply systems, vehicle guidance systems, battery replacement systems, and overall station monitoring system technical requirements. For instance, it specifies that the time for a single battery swap must not exceed six minutes and requires that the swapping station must “at least be compatible with vehicles from two or more different manufacturers.”

Simultaneously, national-level policy support is also intensifying. On April 25, the Ministry of Transport and nine other departments jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Integration of Transportation and Energy Development”. This document not only outlines the long-term goals of integrating transportation and energy but also paves the way for battery-swapped heavy-duty trucks in key areas such as land use, infrastructure, and business models. The opinions encourage the development of clean energy on underutilized land and existing land near transportation infrastructure, while also allowing transportation and energy facilities to share channels and other resources.

With the continuous release of favorable policies, gradual unification of technology standards, and ongoing innovation in business models, heavy-duty truck battery swapping is set to accelerate its transition from closed environments to open roads. In this multi-billion market race, whoever can first overcome the three critical challenges of standardization, network layout, and ecological construction will gain a competitive edge in the market.