CATL unveiled SEB chocolate battery, aims for 30,000 battery swap stations

CATL unveiled two standardized chocolate battery packs, 20# and 25#, designed for battery swapping. The company’s founder and CEO, Robin Zheng, announced that it plans to build 1,000 battery swap stations next year, with the ultimate goal of 30,000 swap stations in China.

“We will continue to promote the standardization of battery swapping, and the most important thing is the standardization of battery size,” said Zheng during CATL’s Battery Swap Ecosystem Conference in Xiamen today.

The first 1000 battery swap stations will be built by CATL itself in 2025. The following 10,000 swap stations will be built with its partners, and in the final stage, there will be 30,000 swap stations in China, CATL announced.

The 20# and 25# choco batteries, officially called Choco-SEB (Swapping Electric Blocks) battery packs, will support lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and (lithium nickel manganese cobalt) NMC chemistry versions. It is designed for A0 to B class EVs and provides up to 600 km CLTC range.

As gasoline comes in 92 and 95 octan grades (in China), 20# and 25# Choco-SEB modules offer the electric alternative to this, CATL explains.

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20# battery swap block is suitable for A0 class vehicles and will provide a range of up to 500 km under CLTC. A0 class are small city cars or subcompact hatchbacks in China.

25# battery swap block is designed for A to B class electric vehicles and will provide up to 600 km range. A class in China are compact cars such as BYD Dolphin, B class are mid-size cars such as BYD Seal

For each Choco-SEB module variant, there are two subscription plans:

20# battery Choco-SEB (A0 class vehicles)

• Travel plan (52 kWh NMC): 469 yuan/month
• Family plan (42 kWh LFP): 369 yuan/month

25# battery Choco-SEB (A/B class vehicles)

• Travel plan (70 kWh NMC): 599 yuan/month (82 USD)
• Family plan (56 kWh LFP): 499 yuan/month

CATL also announced that 10 EVs equipped with swappable Choco-SEB battery packs will launch, starting next year. CATL cooperated with GAC, BAIC, Wuling, and FAW to develop those models.

List of models to get the Choco-SEB battery swap support:

• Changan Oshan 520 (launch in Q1 2025)
• GAC Aion S (launch in Q2 2025)
• Hongqi E-QM5 (launch in Q2 2025)
• SAIC Roewe D7 (launch in Q4 2025)
• BAIC C66 (launch in Q1 2026)
• Wuling Bingo (TBA)
• Wuling Starlight (TBA)
• SAIC Rising F7 (TBA)
• SAIC Maxus Mifa 9 (TBA)
• SAIC Maxus Dana (TBA)

CATL officially entered the battery swap business in January 2022 with the launch of its EVOGO battery swap brand.

“By 2030, battery swapping is expected to meet one-third of the energy replenishment needs for electric vehicles,” Robin Zheng concluded at the conference