China’s First Battery Swapping Trunk Line for Heavy-Duty Trucks Put into Operation

Opening Ceremony of QIJI Energy Ningde-Xiamen Line 

On August 24, Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line, China’s first expressway green logistics line for battery swapping of heavy-duty trucks, officially started service in the Changle Service Area of Fujian Expressway Group. 

Jointly built by Fujian Expressway Group and CATL’s subsidiary QIJI Energy, Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line provides electric heavy-duty trucks traveling between Ningde and Xiamen with timely battery swapping service. The completion of the Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line is a pioneering practice in the green and efficient development of domestic trunk line logistics, accelerating the road freight sector shift to the zero-carbon era.

Robin Zeng, chairman and general manager of CATL 

Dr. Robin Zeng, chairman and general manager of CATL, said at the opening ceremony: “The opening of the Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line will not only be an important milestone in the development of heavy-duty truck electrification, but also a starting point for us to seize the low-carbon opportunity and win the low-carbon future together.” 

QIJI Energy, unlocking energy efficiency benefits 

Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line is a bridge between green environment and economic benefits

Driven by the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, electrification of heavy-duty trucks is now a general trend. Independently developed by CATL, QIJI Energy is the world's first all-in-one heavy-duty truck chassis battery swapping solution. It allows safe, fast and cost-efficient refueling for electric heavy-duty trucks, and opens up new possibilities for building a nationwide heavy-duty truck battery swapping network. The QIJI Battery Swapping Solution shatters the limits of single application scenario and brings new opportunities for the development of electric heavy-duty trucks.

The 420 km long Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line is equipped with four battery swap stations. With its advantages in innovative technology and operation mode, it will eliminate the range anxiety and refueling anxiety facing the heavy-duty truck drivers traveling between Ningde and Xiamen, building an environmentally friendly, affordable and efficient battery swapping trunk line for heavy-duty trucks. 

Based on the 120,000 heavy trucks in Fujian Province and the vehicle-battery separation business model, the QIJI Battery Swapping Solution can reduce the logistics cost by about 3 billion yuan and cut carbon emissions by more than 18 million tons per year without factoring into the oil price fluctuation and increase of vehicle purchase cost. 

The opening of the Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line will effectively speed up the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones and the optimization of industrial structure for local economy, thus truly achieving the synergy between green environment and economic benefits. 

At the opening ceremony, QIJI Energy signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Fujian Expressway Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. The two parties will continue to build battery swap stations for heavy-duty trucks along the main expressways in Fujian Province, further accelerating the construction of heavy-duty truck battery swapping network in Fujian.

QIJI ·Battery Swap Station for Heavy-duty trucks 

Pursuing ecosystem-based development 

Join hands with all parties to build China’s battery swapping trunk line network for heavy-duty trucks 

Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line is a model for the open ecosystem of heavy-duty truck battery swapping network. It opens up a new era of green trunk line transportation, and provides a replicable model for the transformation and upgrading of China’s heavy-duty truck industry. The creation of a nationwide heavy-duty truck battery swapping network is a systematic project that requires the contribution of more partners. At the opening ceremony of the Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line, QIJI Energy also signed strategic cooperation agreements with a number of partners to explore new zero-carbon scenarios in terms of logistics, smart technology, and transportation and with the aim to build a new ecosystem of nationwide heavy-duty truck battery swapping network. 

“QIJI Energy is an open platform. We hope to build a vibrant ecosystem with all partners on this platform,” said Robin Zeng. 

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Starting from the Ningde-Xiamen Trunk Line, QIJI Energy will move from Fujian to the whole country. With leading and innovative technology and business model, it will accelerate the electrification of the heavy-duty truck industry and promote the zero-carbon development of the transportation industry. CATL will join hands with industry partners to create a new pattern of green and low-carbon industrial development.