European truck makers insist battery replacement not necessary

European truck manufacturers oppose CATL-Octopus joint venture to build battery swapping network for heavy-duty trucks, Nikkei reports; This raises concerns about standardisation, OEM autonomy and the strategic implications of adopting the China-led infrastructure model. The Swaptopus-branded startup plans 30 stations across Europe by 2035, with its first hubs in the UK opening in 2027. Resistance focuses on how much it will take for a barter system to work. European truck manufacturers will need to be extremely open: sharing technologies and harmonizing vehicle designs, battery architecture, hardware interfaces, software, battery management and communication protocols between competing brands. S&P Global Mobility Research Analyst Sun Jie put it bluntly to Nikkei: “European OEMs may be reluctant to adopt a CATL-led standard that limits their control and differentiation.” There was a broad consensus in this direction among analysts interviewed by Nikkei. Thomas Fabian, Chief Commercial Vehicle Officer at the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), argued that the priority should not be to lock fleets into a proprietary interchange standard, but to accelerate open, interoperable solutions that enable cross-border transport. Meanwhile, David Cebon, Director of the Center for Sustainable Road Transport at the University of Cambridge, warned that Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz, MAN and DAF will “fight to the death” rather than give up battery intellectual property or resign to a common CATL architecture. These concerns are not abstractions but stem from fundamental commercial reality: Fleet operators under the swap model will have to rent rather than own their batteries, removing a layer of OEM differentiation and transferring a degree of commercial leverage to whoever controls the swap standard. In this case, it will be a Chinese battery manufacturer at a time when geopolitical disruptions are already causing disputes in all major automotive markets. The pushback comes amid constant announcements from European truck makers claiming, whether intentionally or not, that the current approach to electrification is working. Renault Trucks has increased the maximum range of the E-Tech T to 660 km and says operational data from 70,000 connected European tractors shows that 80% of real-world long-distance tasks are already covered in this range, rising to 90% when using the legally mandated 45-minute driver break every 4.5 hours for fast charging. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Trucks has published data from more than 3,000 analyzed laps on its eActros network confirming daily long-distance viability, and MAN Truck & Bus has demonstrated a stable charging current of 3,000 amperes in the NEFTON research project; This indicates a three-megawatt charge that can restore 400 km of range in as little as ten minutes. This could theoretically eliminate outage concerns altogether. Of course, the business case for CATL and Octopus rests entirely on the dual arguments of less downtime and lower total cost of ownership. The battery swap compresses the stop roughly into diesel refueling time, and the rental model completely removes the battery from the truck’s upfront cost. The last of these is probably still the toughest hurdle facing fleet transformation, and shows that adoption rates are noticeably higher in China, where exchange networks are significantly more widespread, though not everywhere. Specifically, for new energy trucks, 29% in China in 2025, 0.9% in the UK in the first quarter of 2026, and 4.4% in Europe. Although battery replacement is more expensive than standard charging, it is also cheaper than diesel refueling. CATL brings a proven model to the table: it operates more than 300 heavy truck swap stations in China serving 12 truck manufacturers across 16 models, with plans for 900 by the end of 2026, covering 80% of key domestic logistics routes. Octopus provides local expertise, grid relationships, planning access and policy credibility that China’s direct industrial entry into Europe would struggle to secure under current scrutiny. But neither partner has demonstrated the European OEM alignment required for interchange to achieve any viable scale. The EU’s Megawatt Charging Standard, which comes into service from February 2025, allows a truck battery to charge from 20% to 80% in 30 to 40 minutes, analysts quoted Nikkei as saying; This complies with the mandatory driver rest period. Scania and its partners target 1,700 MCS charging points by 2027. The emerging European consensus is that the charging model is not perfect, but it is good enough, open and mobile to eliminate the need for a CATL-designed alternative. Whether the aptly named ‘Swaptopus’ initiative is ultimately viable may be more a matter of timing than technology: CATL and Octopus arrive with a convincing answer to a problem that European truck makers insist has already been solved.

Information: This content was prepared and published using AutomobileMagazine’s artificial intelligence-supported publishing system, in line with the information shared by international automotive manufacturers and reliable press sources.