CATL plans to open a demonstration battery swap station for passenger vehicles in Paris in March, alongside a new service centre in the French capital, the company’s President of Quality System and Aftermarket Business Bruce Li told EV on Thursday.
Li disclosed the plan on Thursday during a media roundtable in Oslo, Norway, held as the world’s largest battery maker opened a flagship aftermarket service centre there.
“Next year, in March, in Paris,” Li said when asked where CATL’s next major European service centre would open after Turkey.
“We will set the first [demo] battery swapping station in the service,” he said.
Li said the Paris station would serve passenger vehicles, but indicated CATL would start with commercial users rather than private owners.
“For the battery swapping station, I think that maybe we will start from the commercial application,” he said, answering to EV.
No customer has yet signed up to use the station, Li said.
A Showroom for Swapping
Li described the Paris station as “a model, or a demo,” intended to win over customers to CATL’s battery swapping technology.
“We will invite our customers to the in-service in Paris to see all the green energy solutions in short, in reality. You can see it, you can feel it,” he said.
“And then, I think, with this, we will persuade our customers to start to set up the battery swapping network,” he added.
The Paris station would be the same as the Choco-Swap stations CATL operates in China.
“You know, apparently that in China, we call it a chocolate battery swapping station,” he said, adding that a swap takes “only 99 seconds.”
CATL’s Choco-Swap network passed 2,000 stations in China in July, CarNewsChina reported, and the company is targeting more than 3,000 by the end of the year.
The battery maker will need government permission before the Paris station can move beyond a demonstration, Li said.
“Get some time to get permission for the government. And then we will expand,” he said.
NING Service Unit
After Oslo, CATL’s next flagship service centre will open in Turkey later this year, Li said.
Paris will follow in March, and “after Paris, maybe UK,” he added.
The Oslo centre is part of CATL’s aftermarket push in Europe.
CATL’s NING Service unit opened experience centres in Norway and Turkey, among 10 directly operated outlets.
‘Rivals, but Partners’ With Nio
The Paris plan brings CATL into a field in Europe so far led by Nio, which is both a CATL customer and a partner in battery swapping.
Li described the relationship with Nio in four parts.
“First, NIO is our customer. More than 80% of the battery used in Nio car is from CATL,” he said. CATL is also an investor in Nio’s battery swapping business, Li said.
CATL agreed in March 2025 to invest up to 2.5 billion yuan ($372.4 million) in Nio Power, as part of a battery swap partnership.
“We need to set up the ecosystem for the energy. For the energy, we have charge and we have battery swapping. Two directions. So we work together with Nio to expand the battery swapping market,” Li said.
The difference, he said, is that CATL’s swappable batteries are designed for many carmakers.
“For CATL, we provide the battery to all customers. Not only NIO,” Li said, adding that more than 20 car models in China use CATL’s swappable batteries. “And Nio only for Nio,” he said.
Truck Swapping Talks
CATL is also looking to bring battery swapping for heavy trucks to Europe.
Li said CATL has more than 500 battery swap stations for heavy trucks in China under its Qiji brand.
CATL’s Qiji Energy operated 305 heavy-truck swap stations as of early 2026, electrive reported in June.
No European truck maker uses battery swapping yet.
“It’s just like the chicken and the egg. So, no battery swapping station, and no truck will use this solution,” Li said.
CATL is in talks with Daimler Truck and Volvo Trucks, Li said.
“But it is not confirmed. We’re just talking about it,” he added.
Egzon Bajrami, CEO Norway and Chief Operating Officer of YES-EU Group, said at the roundtable that the group would bring a new truck model with a 1,013 kWh CATL battery to the European market next month.
The group’s next step would be to develop a swapping system and batteries for all its trucks, focused on large logistics customers, Bajrami said.
First Commercial Station With Octopus
CATL’s first commercial battery swap station in Europe is expected to come through its joint venture with Octopus Energy, a CATL spokesperson said at the roundtable.
CATL and the British energy supplier announced the venture, called Swaptopus, in June, with a first hub for electric trucks planned in the UK in 2027.
The station is expected in the second or third quarter of next year, and its location has not been decided, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said CATL was also in talks with logistics companies, including DHL.
“In China, I think we started doing commercial trucking when the electrification rate hit 10%. Now we are much lower than that in Europe,” the spokesperson said. “So, it’s still very early, but it’s about entering the market quickly.”
