Global energy tech business Octopus Energy and CATL, the world’s leading battery manufacturer, have announced a joint venture to accelerate the shift to electric road freight across Europe.
The partnership, unveiled at Octopus Energy’s Energy Tech Summit, will build a network of battery-swapping hubs that allow electric lorries to replace depleted batteries in minutes rather than hours, removing one of the biggest barriers to decarbonising heavy transport .
The new venture, named ‘Swaptopus’, combines CATL’s battery technology and extensive swapping-station knowledge, already deployed at scale across China, with Octopus’s pan-European energy supply, flexibility, trading and customer service expertise .
The first UK mega hubs are expected to open in 2027, with more than 30 planned across Europe by 2035. Each hub will be capable of servicing thousands of lorries daily. Once fully operational, the partners believe the network could support over 300,000 electric trucks and unlock more than £30 billion in private investment.
CATL already has significant experience with battery swapping in China, where the company is rapidly expanding similar networks. The company has set targets of building 1,000 swapping stations in China by the end of 2025 and 10,000 within three years. Europe is seen as the next major market for the technology.
The technology addresses one of the biggest challenges for electric trucks: downtime. Even with fast charging, drivers often need to wait close to an hour before getting back on the road. Battery swapping takes a different approach, allowing drivers to replace the depleted battery with a fully charged one in a process that can take just a few minutes. The system also lowers the upfront cost of electric trucks, as fleet operators do not necessarily need to own the battery itself – often the most expensive part of the vehicle.
Octopus and CATL are also exploring options to scale Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology across CATL’s network, aiming to turn millions of future electric vehicles into virtual power plants that can feed cheap energy back into the grid during peak demand.
Greg Jackson, CEO and Founder of Octopus Energy Group, said: ‘Electric trucks already beat diesel on running costs, the challenge is keeping them moving. Battery swapping changes that. Instead of waiting for hours, trucks can be back on the road in minutes.
‘By combining Octopus’s software and energy expertise with CATL’s world-class battery technology, we’re making clean freight practical at scale across Europe.’
Dr. Robin Zeng, Chairman and CEO of CATL, said: ‘Battery swapping will be a significant part of the future of commercial transport. We have field-proven this technology in China, and we are delighted to bring it to the UK and Europe as part of our joint venture with Octopus.
‘Together, our expertise in battery swapping, B2G (Battery-to-Grid) and energy storage, paired with Octopus’s AI-powered energy trading and management technologies, will speed up the electrification of road transport across the region.’