CATL signs deal with Chinese express giant to electrify delivery trucks

CATL and STO Express partner to focus on logistics truck electrification and the construction of charging and battery swap facilities.CATL has built 300 truck battery swap stations and plans to increase the number to 900 in 2026.(Image credit: CATL)Chinese battery giant CATL and logistics company STO Express have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to promote fleet electrification.The two companies officially signed the strategic agreement recently in Ningde, Fujian province — the city where CATL is headquartered — according to an announcement on Friday.The partnership will focus on green logistics, vehicle electrification, charging and battery swap facility networks, and full life-cycle battery management. Join us on Telegram or Google News The effort aims to address high fuel costs in mainline logistics transportation, which has long been one of the biggest challenges facing the express delivery industry.CATL is collaborating with automakers on customized development to optimize the battery capacity, layout, and overall weight of mainline logistics trucks, according to the statement.Taking the 400-kilometer route from Shanghai to Ningbo as an example, these electric heavy-duty trucks achieve an energy consumption benefit of 0.8 yuan ($0.116) per kilometer compared with traditional fuel vehicles.Even after accounting for the depreciation value of fuel trucks, the fleet can still achieve a cost reduction of 0.3 yuan to 0.5 yuan per kilometer, CATL said.To alleviate the long-standing range anxiety of electric trucks and improve energy replenishment efficiency, CATL is accelerating the construction of its charging and battery swap infrastructure network.The battery maker has already deployed more than 300 commercial vehicle battery swap stations in China under its heavy-duty truck battery swap brand, Qiji Energy.The company plans to expand this number in 2026, aiming to build a cumulative total of over 900 Qiji Energy battery swap stations across China by the end of the year.The layout of Qiji Energy highly overlaps with the three core economic circles of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta, where STO Express's new energy heavy-duty trucks operate, providing energy replenishment guarantees for mainline transportation, CATL said.On April 2, CATL also signed another strategic agreement with Jiangxi Yichun Transportation to promote the electrification of more than 160 rural and township buses.Yichun introduced pure electric intercity buses equipped with CATL's battery systems as early as July 2016, with fuel costs per kilometer dropping significantly by more than 60%, according to the battery maker. CATL launches standardized battery swap pack for heavy trucks CATL launched a "75#" standardized battery swap pack for heavy-duty trucks, following a similar move for passenger cars last December. ($1 = 6.8795 yuan)