Battery swapping for electric trucks
How battery swap stations exchange a truck's battery in minutes, why swapping took off on China's mines, ports and construction sites, and which electric trucks are built for it.
How battery swapping works
A swap-ready truck carries its battery in one or more packs that can be lifted out as a unit, on heavy trucks usually in a frame behind the cab. At a swap station the truck stops in a marked bay, an automated crane or lift releases the depleted pack and sets a fully charged one in its place, and the truck drives on. The whole exchange takes about five minutes.
The station charges the packs it has taken in, typically with slower charging spread over the day and night, which is gentler on the batteries and on the local grid than charging every truck at high power when it arrives.
Why fleets use it
- Uptime. A truck working two or three shifts cannot spend an hour or more charging between them. Swapping keeps it as available as a diesel truck.
- Lower purchase price. Fleets can buy the truck without a battery and lease the battery from the station operator or a third-party lessor, which takes the most expensive part of the truck off the purchase price.
- Battery health. The station operator manages charging, cooling and battery replacement, so the fleet does not carry the risk of battery wear.
Where it is used
Swapping took off in China on routes where many trucks run the same short cycle every day: coal and ore mines, steel mills, ports, construction sites and short-haul freight corridors. Sales of swap-capable vehicles reached about 68,300 in 2025, up about 131% on 2024, and swap-capable trucks have held around 30% of China's electric heavy-truck market since 2023. Standardised swap systems, and new swappable truck batteries from battery makers such as CATL, are widening the networks.
Swapping or charging?
Swapping makes sense where a fleet is large enough to keep a station busy and its trucks run around the clock on fixed routes. Charging suits fleets whose trucks return to a depot overnight or stop for a mandatory break, and it needs no special battery. Many Chinese trucks offer both: the SANY SE588kWh tractors, for example, take either dual-gun DC fast charging or a five-minute swap. Read more in electric truck charging.
Swap-ready electric trucks
14 trucks in our database are built for battery swapping, from FAW Jiefang, Geely Remote (Farizon), SANY, Sinotruk, SHACMAN. See also the full list.
| Truck | Brand | Type | Battery | Range | Weight | Peak power | Body |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 FAW Jiefang J6P 8×4 Battery-Swap Dump Truck | FAW Jiefang | Dump truck | 31 t | 365 kW | |||
| Geely Remote X7E Electric Dump Truck | Geely Remote (Farizon) | Dump truck | 282 – 423 kWh (5 sizes) | 240 km | 450 kW | ||
 SANY SYZ432C-8LRBEVSD | SANY | Dump truck | 70 t | 460 kW | 32 m³ | ||
 SANY SYZ437C-8LRBEVSD | SANY | Dump truck | 65 t | 460 kW | 38 m³ | ||
 Sinotruk HOWO TX Battery-Swap Dump Truck 8×4 | Sinotruk | Dump truck | 282 – 350 kWh | 31 t | 410 kW | ||
| SHACMAN Electric Cement Mixer 8×4 | SHACMAN | Concrete mixer truck | 352.1 – 400.6 kWh | 35 – 45 t | 410 kW | 12 m³ | |
| FAW Jiefang J6P 6×4 Battery-Swap Tractor | FAW Jiefang | Semi truck | 49 t | 365 kW | |||
| Geely Remote X7E Electric Tractor | Geely Remote (Farizon) | Semi truck | 282 – 660 kWh (7 sizes) | 280 km | 450 kW | ||
| Geely Remote Xinghan G Battery-Swap Tractor | Geely Remote (Farizon) | Semi truck | 513 kWh | 500 km | 510 – 530 kW | ||
 SANY SE588kWh Composite | SANY | Semi truck | 588 kWh | 80 t | 480 kW | ||
 SANY SE588kWh Super | SANY | Semi truck | 588 kWh | 120 t | 480 kW | ||
| SHACMAN Electric Tractor 4×2 (512 kWh) | SHACMAN | Semi truck | 512.6 kWh | 44 t | 600 kW | ||
| SHACMAN Electric Tractor 6×4 | SHACMAN | Semi truck | 310.7 – 600.9 kWh (6 sizes) | 49 – 70 t | 410 kW | ||
 Sinotruk HOWO TX Battery-Swap Tractor 6×4 | Sinotruk | Semi truck | 282 – 350 kWh | 25 t | 360 – 410 kW |
Questions
How long does it take to swap an electric truck battery?
About five minutes at a swap station, roughly as long as filling a diesel tank. Makers such as SANY quote five minutes for their swap-ready tractors.
Can any electric truck use a battery swap station?
No. A truck must be built for swapping, with a pack and mounting that match the station. Packs are not yet interchangeable across all makers and stations, so fleets choose trucks and stations that work together.
Why buy a truck without a battery?
With swapping, the battery can be leased from the station operator or a third party. The truck costs less to buy, and the fleet pays for the battery through its energy and rental charges.
Is battery swapping used outside China?
Swapping is overwhelmingly a Chinese system today. Fleets elsewhere mostly charge at depots and fast chargers, but export models offered with swapping are reaching mines, ports and industrial sites in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.