CATL is building more than 200 battery swap stations EVERY MONTH
SkimNews Take
Pairing with an energy retailer like Octopus rather than automakers signals battery swap stations are being positioned as grid-connected energy assets, not just fueling infrastructure — making each station a potential node in a distributed storage network.
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- CATL's Choco-SEB battery swap network deployed its 2,000th station on June 30th, averaging more than 200 new stations every month throughout 2026
- Choco-SEB now spans 180 cities across 31 provinces in China, with an official target of 3,000 stations across the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong by the end of 2026
- CATL announced a partnership with Octopus Energy to bring large-scale battery swapping to UK and European markets, with chairman Dr. Robin Zeng calling the technology "field-proven in China"
- The network grew from zero stations at the start of 2025 to roughly 700 last October, and if current pace holds could surpass 4,000 stations globally by year-end 2026
- CATL co-developed 10 new EV models with domestic automakers last December using its swappable batteries, betting the technology can replace up to a third of China's gas stations
- Choco-SEB is preparing to enter major expressway corridors including Beijing-Harbin, Beijing-Kunming, Beijing-Tibet, Daqing-Guangzhou, and Lanzhou-Haikou
Why it matters: The trajectory—from zero stations in early 2025 to 2,000 by mid-2026—puts CATL on track to potentially exceed 4,000 global stations by December, with the explicit ambition of replacing up to a third of China's gas stations. The Octopus Energy partnership marks CATL's first significant push beyond Chinese borders, extending the Chinese battery-swap model into UK and European commercial transport markets.
