China truck OEM DeepWay plans BE trucks for European market

DeepWay stand at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hanover, Germany (Photo: Power Progress)

Battery swapping for heavy-duty trucks in China is continuing to advance at pace. Qiji Energy, which is part of battery production giant CATL, is set to have 900 battery-swap locations by the end of 2026. By 2030, the company has targeted having outlets across 80% of all major national transport routes.

The only other player which comes close to this coverage is Qiyuan Green Power, an operation backed by State Power Investment Corporation. As of the end of 2025, the company was reported to have about 1,600 charging and battery swap stations.

It should be noted that in August 2026, CATL signed an agreement to buy a 24.8% stake in Qiyuan Green Power for about 2.56 billion yuan (approx. $380 million). Interestingly, where Qiji Energy specializes in ‘under truck’ battery swaps, Qiyuan has a focus on swapping batteries mounted behind the cab and/or under the rear of the truck chassis.

Battery swap trucks

The battery swap network is intended to support the growing national fleet of suitably-equipped heavy-duty trucks. According to figures from ICIS, 231,000 heavy-duty battery-electric trucks were sold in China over 2025, representing an impressive 29% market share.

DeepWay StarWay features drive-by-wire system which reduces vehicle weight (Photo: DeepWay)

Of these, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) reported that about 30%, or 70,000 units, were fitted with ‘swap capable’ systems.

While battery swapping truck models from FAW Jiefang, Foton, SAIC Hongyan, Sitrak and HOWO (the last two being part of Sinotruk) are proving popular in China, European OEMs have instead focused on electric HD trucks with fixed onboard battery packs which must be recharged.

Comments made in 2023 by Andreas Gorbach, head of Truck Technology at Daimler Truck, did not wholly dismiss battery swapping as a solution. Instead, it was the business model which required investment in battery inventory to support a swapping network which made the solution “a little more asset heavy” than desired.

Despite this comment, it should be noted that a partnership between Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive (a 50/50 venture between Daimler Truck and Foton) and battery-swapping tech specialist Aulton is on-going in China.

Recharging favoured in Europe

European truck OEMs are set to remain in favour of recharging onboard battery packs over any investment in a pan-continental battery swapping network. With the lack of battery pack uniformity, comparatively short routes (when compared to China) and the advent of superfast megawatt recharging systems, the way forward already seems predetermined for electric trucking in the region.

And despite the prevalence of battery-swapping networks in China, some national OEMs would appear to agree with their European counterparts. At IAA Transportation 2026 in Hanover, Germany, both Sitrek and DeepWay presented a selection of heavy-duty battery-electric trucks, none of which had battery-swapping capability.

“We are not a battery-swap tech company, we are an electric truck company,” commented Axel Tian, director of Global Market Research at DeepWay, who spoke with Power Progress at IAA Transportation. “We’re open to all kinds of charging solutions and facilities, superfast charging, battery swap. We’re not saying that one or the other is the future, we will work with all of them.”

Even those models produced by DeepWay in China which have battery swapping capability also support recharging from a fixed point. “Recharging is the most basic function, so the vehicle has to have that capability, with or without a battery swapping system,” he explained.

“Battery swapping is essentially an extra function,” he continued. “You can always recharge the packs with CCS2 or another charging configuration.”

Reason for battery swapping

It would seem that battery swapping would appeal to most buyers due to the rapid turnaround time. A process which can be completed in as little as five minutes can get trucks back on the road and earning income as they travel towards their destination, a process which might happen multiple times on a journey across China.

Axel Tian, DeepWay

But Tian says that this is not always the reason why buyers select a vehicle that offers battery swapping capability.

“Truck buyers sometimes choose a truck with battery-swap capability because they can delete the battery and delete that cost from their CAPEX. That removes the battery from the cost of the truck, which also reduces the taxable amount.” Continuing, he implies that the truck owner will, at that point, never own a battery – instead, they will simply swap packs as needed.

European show presence

As for the goal of DeepWay taking part in IAA Transportation, Tian had this to say: “At the end of the day, we want to sell trucks. But Europe is a very mature, very complicated market. Before we start selling vehicles here, we need to have a better understanding of the market.”

He noted that understanding the market related in part to achieving homologation of the trucks. This includes whole-vehicle type approval (EU 2018/858), through to functional/general safety (EU 2019/2144 and related acts), and cybersecurity and software updates (UN R155, UNR156).

There is also the electric powertrain and battery safety regulation (UN R100). This is less complicated with a fixed battery, as the vehicle and packs can achieve approval as a single unit. With battery swapping, the complexity increases as each battery pack must have type approval to be used in a specific vehicle.

“We really need to understand these regulations,” said Tian. “When we have full understanding, we can make the right product for Europe. Otherwise we’re only bringing a truck from China to Europe and that won’t deliver any value to the market or the customer – it would just be a waste of money and time.”

Asked if DeepWay was anywhere near the level of development needed to introduce a successful competitor into the European market, Tian replied: “We’re close, but we’re not quite there yet.”

DeepWay 513H was designed in part by Pininfarina (Photo: Power Progress)