CATL, the world’s largest battery manufacturer by market share, unveiled a new commercial vehicle battery platform capable of giving heavy-duty electric trucks up to 621 miles of driving range on a single charge, with the ability to recover 80 percent capacity in just 25 minutes.
The announcement came at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hannover, Germany, one of the freight industry’s largest biennial trade shows.
What TECTRANS II offers
CATL unveiled TECTRANS II, its next-generation commercial vehicle battery solution, at IAA Transportation 2026 in Hannover on September 14, 2026. By configuring different numbers of standardized battery packs, TECTRANS II can meet different energy capacity and payload requirements and support a maximum driving range of up to 1,000 kilometers.
That translates to roughly 621 miles in the platform’s largest heavy-duty configuration.
The heavy-duty truck version can charge to 80% in 25 minutes using megawatt-level fast charging, according to CATL. CATL rates the heavy-duty truck setup for a 12-year, 1.5-million-kilometer operating lifecycle while retaining 70 percent capacity.
It also comes with 15-year corrosion resistance that supports long-term operation in coastal environments and cold regions.
Modular architecture for fleet operators
TECTRANS II uses a modular platform that accommodates different energy capacity and payload requirements by varying the number of standardized battery packs. It is compatible with both e-axle and central-drive architectures and supports switching between charging and battery swapping.
By standardizing battery pack dimensions, electrical interfaces and communication protocols, both new and existing vehicle models can adopt future battery upgrades without major changes to their platforms, CATL said.
That design decision is significant for large fleet operators who need to phase in electric trucks across years, rather than replacing their entire operations at once.
The 25-minute charge window is engineered specifically around commercial economics. A commercial truck sitting at a charger is not on the road moving cargo.
Getting a truck close to full charge in the time it takes a driver to take a rest break could close the gap with diesel’s traditional turnaround advantage.
DHL partnership and show context
At the show, CATL also signed a memorandum of understanding with DHL Group, building on the pair’s September 2024 agreement. The MoU will see the two companies develop Green Freight Corridors across Europe, leveraging DHL’s logistics network and operational expertise alongside CATL’s battery technology and electrification ecosystem.
The unveiling places CATL’s commercial-vehicle battery offering alongside a crowded field at IAA 2026, where Chinese OEMs including FAW Trucks, Dongfeng, Foton and Farizon are also exhibiting electric trucks.
The TECTRANS II platform is the latest step in a commercial vehicle battery push that CATL has built up across 2026. In January, the company launched the Tectrans II series for light commercial vehicles, which included the industry’s first mass-produced sodium-ion battery variant, a low-temperature edition designed for extreme cold.
In July, CATL added an 8C ultra-fast charging edition for light commercial vehicles, reaching 80% state of charge in six minutes and 48 seconds, according to the company.
CATL’s broader market position
CATL’s global battery installations totaled 289.6 GWh in the first seven months of 2026, giving it a 39.9% market share, according to South Korean market research firm SNE Research.
The company’s TECTRANS II push targets a segment where diesel still dominates: long-haul trucking, where range and refueling time have historically made battery-electric powertrains impractical for routes exceeding 300 miles.
With the US public charging network adding capacity across competing standards, the infrastructure needed to support megawatt-level truck charging remains thinner outside Europe and China. Fleet buyers evaluating long-haul electrification will still need to weigh charging corridor availability against the range numbers CATL is now advertising.
For operators running fixed routes near expanding charging corridors, the 25-minute recharge window puts electric heavy transport in a potentially viable position alongside the diesel trucks it is targeting. As demand charge costs remain a real variable for fleet operators plugging into commercial power, the speed and predictability of megawatt charging sessions could help minimize exposure to peak-demand billing spikes that have caught some early electric fleet adopters off guard.
