(Yicai) June 25 -- Chinese power battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology is accelerating the global rollout of its electric vehicle battery swapping business.

CATL, the world’s largest power battery supplier, announced today that it has expanded its passenger car battery swapping business to Hong Kong. It comes three days after the Ningde-based company revealed that it will launch a heavy-duty truck battery swapping network in Europe.

CATL’s passenger car battery swapping brand Choco-Swap has built and put two battery swapping stations into operation in Hong Kong, and the firm has also delivered the first batch of battery-swappable taxis in the special administrative region, it said.

The plan is for Choco-Swap to build about 36 battery swapping stations in Hong Kong by the end of 2030, covering major hubs in various districts, serving various high-frequency commercial operation vehicles, and gradually forming a battery swapping network to support urban green mobility, the company said.

Choco-Swap’s battery swapping stations have the advantages of a small footprint and flexible deployment, CATL said, making them suitable for the high urban density and tight land resources in Hong Kong. It will also offer a replicable reference sample for future deployment in other international cities, it added.

CATL launched Choco-Swap in December 2024, and by May this year it had opened 1,650 battery swapping stations in 127 cities in the Chinese mainland. The number of stations is set to rise to 3,000 by the end of this year, covering 190 cities.

On June 22, CATL announced a partnership with Octopus Energy Group, a leading electricity supplier in the United Kingdom, aiming to open over 30 new energy heavy-duty truck swapping stations in Europe through a joint venture by 2035. This marks the overseas debut of Qiji Energy, CATL’s battery-swapping brand dedicated to heavy-duty trucks.

“By combining Octopus’ software and energy expertise with CATL’s world-class battery technology, we’re making clean freight practical at scale across Europe,” said Greg Jackson, chief executive and founder of Octopus.

Editor: Tom Litting