EVwire brief: CATL, the world's largest battery maker, is teaming up with Octopus Energy, the UK's biggest household energy supplier, in a 50-50 joint venture to build a battery-swap network for electric heavy trucks in Europe. The deal brings CATL's Qiji Energy swap technology to the European market.
The first demonstration stations are due to open in the UK in 2027, focused on motorway trunk routes and major logistics ports before extending to Scotland and Wales.
By 2035, the network is expected to pass 30 stations, and once built out, the companies say it could serve more than 300,000 electric trucks and draw over £30 billion (about $38 billion) of private investment in Europe.
CATL and Octopus Energy’s 50-50 joint venture is expected to have its first demonstration sites in the UK in 2027
The pitch is cost. Swapping a depleted pack for a charged one takes minutes, against nearly an hour for current fast charging, and because the battery is not bought with the truck, swapping also lowers the upfront price.
Octopus founder Greg Jackson told the Financial Times that with battery swapping, "we will be cheaper than diesel is today."
One notable wrinkle: the swap stations will be owned by truck makers and fleet operators, not by CATL or Octopus Energy, with governments expected to treat them as critical infrastructure, as per the FT. UPDATE: Octopus Energy’s Will Rowe has issued a clarification to this, stating that “We will own plenty of these assets but also want to allow others to make the investment if it works for their business. But we will own all the batteries as otherwise the network won’t function correctly.”)
Battery swap stations allow electric trucks to replenish their range very quickly
Context:
Battery swapping was pioneered by China's Nio and is spreading quickly at home, but the high cost of building stations has slowed it abroad. The model has promised diesel-beating economics before and stumbled overseas, so the 2027 demonstration sites will be the real test.
In China, CATL is moving fast, planning 900 heavy-truck swap stations this year, up from about 305 in 2025, and aiming to cover 80% of the country's core logistics trunk roads by 2030. CATL chair Robin Zeng has predicted that pure-electric models will make up half of China's heavy-truck market by 2028.
Source: CNEVPost
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