Overview
- The joint venture, named Swaptopus, was announced on Monday and plans UK 'mega hubs' to open in 2027 with more than 30 large sites planned across Europe by 2035.
- Swapping will let heavy trucks replace depleted battery packs in minutes instead of hours, with each hub designed to service thousands of lorries a day to speed route schedules and reduce fleet delays.
- CATL brings field‑proven swap technology from China and will run early pilots with Chinese OEMs, while two DeepWay swap‑ready trucks have arrived in Europe for road testing as homologation work continues.
- Swaptopus plans to manage large on‑site battery pools that can charge when power is cheap and export electricity back to the grid using vehicle‑to‑grid and battery‑to‑grid techniques to lower operating costs.
- The partners estimate the network could support more than 300,000 trucks and attract over £30 billion of private investment, but scaling depends on regulator approvals, vehicle redesign by European OEMs and site construction.