CATL Debuts China’s First Light-Truck Battery Swap Network

DST, CATL, and Times Electric Service jointly announced today the official launch of China’s first standardized battery-swap network for light-duty trucks.

The partnership signals that urban logistics battery swapping is moving away from the “local area network” constraints of station-vehicle bundling and inconsistent standards, entering a new phase of standardization, scale, and nationwide interoperability.

At the industry level, this marks the country’s first standardized swap ecosystem tailored to light trucks, filling the energy gap in the “last mile” of urban logistics electrification.

Officials said the Chocolate light-truck battery swap takes just 120 seconds, saving over 2,000 hours of refueling time over an eight-year vehicle lifespan, while energy costs are about half those of a fuel-powered light truck. Additionally, the swap model enables full-cycle digital monitoring of battery condition, helping fleets maintain safety standards.

The Chocolate light-truck swap stations adopt a modular design, capable of serving passenger cars and trucks with wheelbases from 2.7 to 3.75 meters, and are compatible with Chocolate No. 25 and No. 35 battery cells, covering both passenger and commercial vehicles.

The collaboration between CATL and DST did not begin today.

As early as August 2023, the two companies signed a strategic cooperation agreement at the inauguration ceremony of the country’s first heavy-duty truck battery-swap green logistics corridor on a highway – the Ningde-Xiamen route – to jointly build a national heavy-truck swap network.

In April 2024, they further deepened their strategic partnership, expanding cooperation from domestic to overseas markets. CATL committed to providing DST with no less than 10 GWh of battery supply, while DST plans to add 150,000 new energy logistics vehicles to its operation fleet.

As cooperation deepened, both companies shifted their focus from heavy-truck trunk logistics to the broader light-truck urban and intercity market.

To date, 31 light-truck swap stations have been completed in the Greater Bay Area, with plans to intensify to 140 stations by year-end, forming a 15-minute swap circle in core areas, prioritizing coverage of expressway trunks and logistics distribution hubs.

Under the plan, by the end of 2026, the three parties will put 5,000 standardized swap light trucks into operation in the Greater Bay Area, building the country’s largest standardized urban distribution swap operation cluster, which will then be replicated nationwide.