For Years It Seemed Impossible to Use an Electric Truck Because of a Major Problem – China Claims a 5-Minute Fix

As electric cars continue to take off, electrification is also gaining importance in another mode of transportation: trucks.

It isn’t something we’re seeing in Europe yet, but it is in China. The Asian country is betting heavily on electrifying heavy-duty road transport, and it is doing so through a radical shift in the logistics of this sector.

Battery swapping, instead of recharging

It is increasingly clear that the future of the electric car is 100% electric, but what about trucks? In Europe and North America, fully electric models are already on sale, such as the Tesla Semi, the MAN eTGX, the Renault E-Tech T, several Scania, DAF, Volvo and the Mercedes-Benz eActros600, but the market for heavy-duty electric trucks is still very small, especially in the US.

The problem in these two markets, beyond the lack of federal regulation in the US, is that there isn’t a charging infrastructure compelling enough for the electric truck to be a real alternative to the traditional diesel truck. On the other hand, having a truck parked for the 20 or 30 minutes needed to quickly charge its battery means money lost for companies; it’s too long.

In China, however, they have found the solution: battery-swapping stations. It’s not something that works with passenger electric cars, despite attempts by manufacturers like Renault and NIO at different times, but it is proving very useful in the heavy-duty road transport sector.

In 2025, around 231,000 heavy-duty electric trucks were sold in China, up 182% from 2024, reaching a market share of 29%. This year, these models have represented more than 40% of sales in some months, as happened in May.

In this country, more than 90% of global sales of this type of trucks are concentrated (in Europe, barely around 23,000 units were sold in 2025), and the massive expansion of battery-swapping stations has had a lot to do with it.