VIDEO: Battery swapping could offer a new route to electric HGV uptime

Battery swapping is re-emerging as a potential solution for heavy electric trucks, where downtime and grid capacity can make conventional charging difficult.

EMobility has highlighted CATL’s QIJI system, which can replace a heavy-truck battery in around five minutes. CATL plans to expand to 900 heavy-truck swap stations in China during 2026, showing the technology is moving beyond small-scale trials.

For fleet operators, the attraction is operational rather than technological. Swapping could keep high-utilisation trucks moving while batteries are charged separately at lower-power periods, reducing pressure for multiple megawatt grid connections.

It could also change vehicle economics. Battery-as-a-service models separate the battery from the truck purchase, potentially lowering upfront costs while transferring some degradation risk away from the operator.

The concept is becoming relevant to the UK too. CATL and Octopus Energy are developing a European heavy-truck battery-swapping network, with initial UK infrastructure expected as the model expands outside China.

For fleets planning heavy-duty electrification, battery swapping is now worth watching alongside megawatt charging rather than dismissing as a passenger-EV technology that failed to gain traction.

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