Facing BYD’s flash-charging rollout, CATL is accelerating its battery-swap network and plans about 3,000 cumulative swap stations by 2026, including roughly 900 for heavy trucks. Using CATL’s station assumptions (chocolate stations: 48 × 52 kWh; Qiji heavy-truck stations: 24 × 171 kWh), the rollout implies roughly 12.7 GWh of incremental battery capacity and about 7,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate demand, approximately one month of output at Jianxiawo.

2026-08-25

Facing BYD’s flash-charging rollout, CATL is accelerating its battery-swap network and plans about 3,000 cumulative swap stations by 2026, including roughly 900 for heavy trucks. Using CATL’s station assumptions (chocolate stations: 48 × 52 kWh; Qiji heavy-truck stations: 24 × 171 kWh), the rollout implies roughly 12.7 GWh of incremental battery capacity and about 7,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate demand, approximately one month of output at Jianxiawo.