Plans for battery swapping Electric trucks in UK
Octopus Energy and Chinese battery giant CATL are planning to introduce battery-swapping technology for electric trucks in the UK, aiming to reduce downtime by exchanging depleted batteries for fully charged ones in minutes rather than waiting for a recharge.
Background
- Octopus Energy is a major UK energy supplier and investor, known for pushing innovative electric-vehicle (EV) charging tariffs and grid services. CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.) is the world’s largest EV battery manufacturer, based in China.
- The article discusses a plan to bring battery-swapping technology to heavy electric trucks in the UK — a model where a depleted truck battery is replaced with a fully charged one at a station, rather than plugging in to recharge. This is already used by Chinese EV maker Nio for cars but is rare for trucks in Europe.
- Battery swapping could solve the long charging times that make electric trucking impractical for long-haul routes: swapping takes minutes vs. hours for a full charge. However, it requires standardised batteries across different truck brands and huge upfront investment in swap stations.
- The UK government has a ban on new diesel trucks coming, but electric truck uptake has been slow due to range anxiety, high vehicle cost, and lack of charging infrastructure. This deal is an attempt to jump-start that transition.