CATL and Octopus Energy Form Joint Venture to Build Heavy-Duty Truck Battery-Swapping Network in Europe, Exploring Innovative Business Models.

Foresee Energy learned from CATL's official website that on June 22, 2026, CATL announced the establishment of a joint venture with Octopus Energy, the UK's largest energy company, to jointly build a battery-swapping network for heavy-duty trucks across Europe. The first batch of battery-swapping stations will be launched in the UK by 2027, prioritizing coverage of major highway arteries and core logistics ports, with over 30 stations to be completed by 2035.

This is no ordinary overseas expansion. It comes at a time when the electrification penetration rate of heavy-duty trucks in Europe stands at just 2.1%. European truck manufacturers are not lacking in determination to electrify—the EU mandates a 45% reduction in carbon emissions for new heavy-duty trucks by 2030 and a 65% reduction by 2035 compared to 2019 levels—but what they lack are the charging facilities to keep these trucks on the road.

Instead of simply selling batteries in Europe, CATL has chosen to build 'highway gas stations.' The difference is that these 'gas stations' don't swap fuel—they swap batteries.

Europe Doesn't Lack Electric Trucks—It Lacks the Power to Keep Them Running

The European heavy-duty truck market remains stable at 250,000 to 300,000 units annually, but electrification is progressing slowly. The penetration rate of new energy vehicles will be just 2.1% in 2025, due to three main factors: high acquisition costs, insufficient driving range, and a severe shortage of charging infrastructure.

Foresee Energy speculates that the shortage of charging infrastructure may be the most critical issue.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, there are currently only about 1,100 truck charging points across Europe, but 50,000 will be needed by 2030. In just five years, the gap will widen nearly 50-fold. Germany, for example, has fewer than 300 public charging points for heavy commercial vehicles.

What do these numbers mean? They mean that even if logistics companies purchase electric heavy-duty trucks, they will struggle to find charging stations on long-haul routes.

Given this situation, EU AFIR regulations require that by 2030, a heavy-duty truck charging station must be installed every 120 kilometers along major European highway networks.

But regulations are one thing, and reality is another. Building charging infrastructure involves upgrading grid capacity, land approvals, and power dispatch, all of which are time-consuming and costly. The CEO of Scania has warned that Europe's transition to electric heavy-duty trucks faces two major obstacles: a severe lack of infrastructure and unfavorable economic policies.

CATL's partnership with Octopus Energy stems precisely from the latter's ability to address the questions of 'where the electricity comes from and how it is dispatched.'

By 2025, Octopus Energy had become the market leader among household energy suppliers in the UK, serving over 8 million households. However, the company does not generate a single kilowatt-hour of electricity itself. Its core asset is its self-developed AI energy management platform, Kraken, which manages over 50 million contracted accounts. Clients include Tokyo Gas in Japan, EDF in France, and E.ON in Germany. The platform does not generate electricity but integrates millions of distributed photovoltaic systems, energy storage batteries, electric vehicles, and other resources, acting as a 'superbrain' for a virtual power plant to optimize real-time dispatch.

Octopus Energy can solve the problems of electricity dispatch and trading. CATL can solve the problems of how to get electricity into vehicles and how to swap batteries. The capabilities of the two companies barely overlap, which is precisely the value of the joint venture.

One notable detail is that Octopus Energy entered the Chinese power market in January 2026 through a joint venture with Bicheng Energy. A month after entering China, it partnered with CATL to build battery-swapping stations in Europe. The company's strategy is clear—to connect the world's largest power market with the world's largest new energy market using its technology platform.

Battery Swapping Is Not a Technical Issue—It's a Business Model Issue

When discussing battery swapping, it's essential to mention Qiji Battery Swap, CATL's self-developed solution for heavy-duty truck chassis battery swapping. It consists of three core components: the Qiji battery pack, the Qiji battery-swapping station, and the Qiji cloud platform. A battery swap can be completed in just 5 minutes. Each station is equipped with 24 battery bays (171kWh each) and can serve up to 192 trucks per day.

These technical parameters have already been validated in China. By 2025, 305 Qiji battery-swapping stations had been built. In 2026, the plan is to have a cumulative total of 900 stations, expanding the network to cover 'five east-west and five north-south' trunk routes. Domestically, Qiji Battery Swap has collaborated with over a dozen OEMs, including FAW Jiefang and Shaanxi Heavy-Duty Automobile, to launch more than 30 standardized battery-swapping truck models.

The economic viability is also well-founded. A heavy-duty truck using Qiji chassis battery swapping, assuming 100,000 kilometers driven annually, saves RMB 0.62 per kilometer compared to a diesel truck, resulting in an additional RMB 60,000 in annual earnings. Over its full lifecycle, the cost per kilometer is RMB 0.62 lower than that of a diesel truck, with annual operational savings of RMB 60,000 to 80,000.

However, the situation in Europe differs from that in China.

The success of the battery-swapping model in China is based on 'vehicle-battery separation'—users purchase the vehicle chassis and lease the batteries, with the battery-swapping station operator owning the battery assets.

This model requires two prerequisites: a sufficient number of standardized battery-swapping vehicles and a dense enough network of battery-swapping stations.

What Europe currently lacks is the first prerequisite. With a 2.1% penetration rate for electric heavy-duty trucks in 2025, there are simply too few electric trucks on the road. Even if battery-swapping stations are built, who will use them?

CATL's strategy is to 'build the road first and wait for the vehicles.' 2026 marks the first year of Chinese electric heavy-duty trucks entering the European market, with at least six Chinese truck manufacturers launching sales in Europe. For example, Sinotruk has signed a contract manufacturing agreement with Steyr Automotive in Austria to produce pure electric heavy-duty trucks locally. These Chinese electric trucks will face the immediate challenge of charging upon entering Europe. By pre-deploying battery-swapping stations, CATL is effectively building 'gas stations' for these Chinese trucks in Europe.

Greg Jackson, founder and CEO of Octopus Energy, once said: 'Electric heavy-duty trucks have already beaten diesel trucks in terms of operating costs—the challenge is keeping them running.' The presence of battery-swapping stations ensures they never stop.

Energy Companies Are Better Suited for Battery Swapping Than Automakers

Globally, the most active promoter of the battery-swapping model has been NIO. However, NIO's battery-swapping stations are designed to 'serve its own users,' essentially extending the automaker's after-sales service.

CATL's logic is different—it doesn't manufacture vehicles; it only builds infrastructure.

The involvement of Octopus Energy adds deeper commercial logic to this endeavor. The company does not generate electricity but relies on its AI energy management platform to dispatch power. Battery-swapping stations are essentially distributed energy storage facilities, meaning each swapped battery serves as an energy storage unit. Octopus Energy's Kraken platform can schedule these batteries to charge during off-peak hours (when electricity prices are lowest) and discharge during peak hours, profiting from the price differential.

Greg Jackson put it bluntly at the joint venture announcement summit: 'These stations will house a large number of batteries, which we can charge during periods of low grid load and cheap electricity prices. For example, we can supply 500 kWh of electricity to a truck but do so during off-peak grid hours.'

Meanwhile, battery-swapping stations are no longer just refueling facilities but also flexible grid-balancing resources.

Europe's highly marketization power market, with its significant electricity price fluctuations, offers greater potential for this business model than China. Octopus Energy, as a power retailer, already has customers, a platform, and trading capabilities. CATL provides the batteries and swapping equipment, while Octopus Energy supplies the electricity and dispatch services. The revenue from battery-swapping stations comes not just from service fees but also from electricity trading arbitrage.

This is the true highlight of the collaboration. It's not merely about two companies 'building a few stations together' but an experimental business model for energy infrastructure—transforming battery-swapping stations into part of the grid in Europe, enabling refueling facilities to generate their own revenue.

Once fully completed, the network is expected to support the operation of over 300,000 electric trucks and could attract more than £3 billion in private investment.

For CATL, This Is About More Than Just Selling Equipment

Looking ahead, CATL officially announced its major push into the battery-swapping business in late 2024. By 2025, it had built 1,020 Chocolate Battery Swap stations and 305 Qiji Battery Swap stations. In 2026, the pace of station construction will double, with a cumulative total of nearly 4,000 stations planned.

Domestically, the strategic value of the battery-swapping network is already clear. CATL is promoting battery standardization, launching its Chocolate Battery Swap block series, and building a universal battery-swapping network that spans brands and vehicle models. Battery-swapping stations are not just refueling facilities but also 'reservoirs' for batteries. Regardless of how the underlying electrochemical systems evolve, as long as battery pack interfaces are standardized, swapping stations can accommodate both new and old technologies.

Europe represents an extension of this logic. CATL has already established battery production capacity in Europe—its factory in Thuringia, Germany, is operating steadily, and its Debrecen factory in Hungary is scheduled to start production in early 2026, with a planned total capacity of 100GWh. It is also building a 50GWh LFP battery factory in Spain in partnership with Stellantis. With production capacity in place, who will buy the batteries? The battery-swapping network serves as a channel to absorb this capacity.

More critically, data is key. The operation of battery-swapping stations generates vast amounts of data on battery status, usage frequency, and charge-discharge curves. This data, in turn, can optimize battery design, improve BMS algorithms, and predict battery lifespan. For a battery manufacturer, possessing terminal usage data is more valuable than selling a few extra batteries.

The first batch of demonstration battery-swapping stations will be launched in the UK by 2027, prioritizing coverage of major highway arteries and core logistics ports. By 2035, over 30 stations will cover key trunk routes across the UK.

This pace is not particularly fast—30 stations over nine years averages to just over three per year. However, the construction of battery-swapping stations has never been uniformly distributed. The first few stations are the hardest, requiring approvals, grid connections, equipment adaptation, and operational workflows. Once the model is proven, replication will accelerate.

CATL built 305 Qiji Battery Swap stations in China in a single year. At that speed, 30 stations in Europe would be just the beginning.

Electric heavy-duty trucks have already won in terms of operating costs—the challenge is keeping them running. What CATL and Octopus Energy aim to do is ensure that Europe's electric heavy-duty trucks never stop.