CATL chairman Robin Zeng says sodium-ion batteries can cover everyday urban driving, while a larger battery-swap network could ease concerns about longer journeys. CnEVPost reported his remarks on November 10, 2026, describing CATL’s rationale for connecting the battery chemistry with network expansion.
Battery swapping replaces a vehicle’s depleted pack with a charged one. In Zeng’s view, that option could help address longer-trip concerns for drivers whose usual journeys are in cities.
A station network can address access; the battery chemistry a vehicle accepts depends on its specific pack and vehicle configuration.
CATL’s network figures cover different snapshots
CnEVPost reported that CATL’s stations covered about 200 cities in China and that the company aimed to exceed 3,000 passenger-car swap stations nationwide by the end of 2026.
CATL’s April 21, 2026 announcement gave an earlier snapshot: 1,470 Choco-Swap stations across 99 cities. The company set a separate target of 4,000 integrated charge-and-swap stations by the end of 2026. The April figures describe Choco-Swap stations; the November report gives a later city count and a passenger-car station target.
CATL describes its wider network as combining home charging, public charging and battery swapping. It said passenger-car Choco-Swap and heavy-truck QIJI stations would include Shenxing supercharging systems. The design puts swapping alongside other ways to replenish a vehicle’s energy. (CATL’s April network announcement)
Naxtra and Choco-Swap #26 are distinct parts of the plan
In April, CATL said its Naxtra sodium-ion batteries had reached gigawatt-hour-level industrialisation and targeted full-scale mass production by the end of 2026. The company’s announcement described this production goal alongside its network plans. (CATL’s announcement)
CATL described the first Choco-Swap #26 pack as a 75-kWh, 800-volt design for B- to C-segment 800-volt vehicles. The company did not identify #26 as a sodium-ion pack or describe sodium-ion and lithium-ion packs as interchangeable in the same vehicle. Its stated pack specification therefore concerns the #26 system, not a demonstrated cross-chemistry swap.
