Shanghai (ZXZC)- On Feb. 22, CATL and SANY Group, the Chinese leading heavy equipment manufacturer, jointly held a ceremony in Ningde city, Fujian province to put a batch of battery swappable heavy-duty trucks into pilot operation, signifying the official launch of China's first trunk for heavy-duty trucks' operation.

Launching ceremony for pilot operation of electric heavy-duty truck trunk; photo credit: CATL

At the same time, Ningde City Communications Investment Group Co., Ltd. and CATL·GLP, where CATL holds around 47% stake, signed a strategic investment agreement. The four parties will make joint efforts to promote the low-carbon operation of battery swappable heavy-duty trucks in full commercial-use scenarios.

Under the pressure of reducing carbon emissions, it is quite urgent to popularize electric vehicles in the heavy-duty truck segment, which features a high emission volume. Given the concerns about the slow charging speed, the difficulty in finding charging spots, and the range anxiety, the charging mode cannot thoroughly solve all pain points for electric vehicle users. Thus, battery swapping was born to be a supplementary method.

CATL said it is committed to offering highly efficient battery swapping solutions for trunk transportation, urban infrastructure construction, port transportation, and other scenarios where heavy-truck trucks are greatly demanded.

The newly-launched battery swappable trucks utilize CATL's lithium iron phosphate batteries, which not only enable zero emission and zero pollution, but also support high-power rapid charging, the battery maker added. Besides, the battery can be exchanged to a fully charged one within only three to five minutes, so as to significantly improve the vehicle operation efficiency.

CAES, High-speed Energy Development Co., Ltd. signing MoU; photo credit: CATL

On the same day, CATL's subsidiary CAES (Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd.) inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with High-speed Energy Development Co., Ltd., a unit of Fujian Expressway Group Co., Ltd. Under the MoU, both parties will build a joint venture dedicated to developing a battery swapping network for expressways of Fujian province, and promoting the construction and operation of battery swap stations at the province's highway service plazas.