Battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) introduced a dual-battery system for heavy-duty electric trucks in Beijing on Oct. 20, aiming to reduce the electricity left unused when fleets exchange battery packs.
The swappable main battery sits under the truck, while a 77-kilowatt-hour backup stays behind the cab. CATL says power shifts to the backup within milliseconds as the main pack runs low, allowing the main pack to be returned for a swap at less than 5% state of charge.
CATL estimates the arrangement would let operators use more than 95% of the main battery’s capacity before a swap, up from about 70% in conventional swapping operations. The figures are company performance claims.
CATL has identified charge left in swapped packs, rental bills and vehicle resale value as pressures on fleet economics. Its proposed leasing model would leave the backup with the truck and allow operators to rent a main pack according to freight demand.
The company says its billing method credits customers for electricity recovered during braking. For customers on basic plans, CATL estimates that battery rental costs could fall by up to 20% per kilowatt-hour.
CATL also introduced two standardized swappable packs for QIJI Energy: the 260# holds 432 kilowatt-hours and the 300# holds 513 kilowatt-hours. It says a swap takes five minutes. The company launched QIJI’s heavy-truck swapping system in 2023 and added a 75# standardized pack in 2025.
The launch follows CATL’s separate agreement with Huawei-backed Yinwang on automated battery swapping. That agreement covers coordination among vehicles, swap stations and cloud systems.
CATL said it had established more than 300 QIJI Energy Swap stations by the end of 2025. It plans to reach 900 by the end of 2026 and 2,000 by 2027.
