Chinese battery giant CATL has launched in its homeland ‘Qiji Energy ‘, a battery swap solution for heavy-duty trucks. These can be equipped with up to three ‘battery blocks’ with a capacity of 171 kWh each, up to 513 kWh. The blocks offered come with specific swapping stations and a cloud platform to make battery swap appointments.

The battery packs use CATL’s third-generation lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with no-heat dispersion technology and a cycle life of over 15 000 cycles. The possibility of combining several battery blocks is similar to CATL’s battery swap service for passenger cars under the Evogo brand, launched in January of this year.

Different battery combinations

The battery block, called Choco-SEB (swapping electric block) introduced with Evogo, is a refreshing concept developed for shared mobility, letting the user have the option of different battery configurations.

The blocks in the Evogo system are using cell to pack technology and have an energy density of +160Wh/kg, with one battery providing a range of some 200 km, says CATL. As for trucks, limiting downtime while charging was one of the main objectives. In June, CATL opened the first three swap stations in Fuzhou, Fujian province, with each storing up to 48 battery blocks.

CATL claims that the mass-produced battery blocks can accommodate about 80% of EVs currently on the market and those developed on an EV-specific platform in the next three years. Swapping a battery block in a CATL swap station takes only one minute.

Changed in a few minutes

Also, for the trucks, the entire battery replacement process takes only a few minutes. The swap stations use ‘adaptive tuning technology’ and can cover the full wheelbase of the truck. According to CATL, battery swapping can make a difference in annual costs for an electric truck of 30 000 yuan (€3 800) to 60 000 yuan (€7 400).

Apart from some failed experiments in the past, battery swapping is not very popular in the West, unlike in the East. Battery swapping for scooters is already popular there, particularly in Taiwan, where Gogoro developed it in its home market, and Yamaha joined in with scooters using the system, for instance.

Japanese and Italian motorbike manufacturers have joined forces through the Swappable Batteries Consortium (SBMC) to develop battery technology and related infrastructure to enable drivers of electric two-wheelers.

NIO bringing swapping to Europe

In China, different EV makers like SAIC (with brands such as MG or Maxus) announce models with swappable batteries. But premium carmaker NIO is the first to introduce its system and swapping stations in Europe.

All NIO models are developed with battery swapping in mind and can have an empty battery swapped in under five minutes automatically for a fully charged one, with a choice of a 75 kWh, 100 kwh, and even 150 kWh battery.

The third generation of battery-swapping stations was shown at the NIO Day in December 2022 in Hefei, China. These stations can hold up to 21 charged battery packs (up from 13) and perform 408 swaps a day (+30%), and it only takes two and a half minutes to do so.