Electric heavy trucks, buses, and vans to get battery-swapping compatibility through collaboration announced by U Power with Beijing Foton
U Power Limited, a leading battery-swapping technology provider, and Beijing Foton, China's largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on promoting battery-swapping compatible electric heavy trucks, buses, and vans across key international markets. These markets include Southeast Asia, South America, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR.
Under the terms of the agreement, U Power will provide the technology to incorporate battery-swapping capabilities into Beijing Foton's commercial vehicles. U Power will also develop and test battery-swapping stations designed to serve different electric vehicle models. The partnership will involve the creation and expansion of a battery-bank ecosystem to support fast and efficient battery swaps.
Beijing Foton, with its existing electric truck models that already support battery swapping, such as the Auman e-truck series, will utilize its vehicle platforms and market reach to accelerate adoption. The collaboration aims to increase U Power's market share in the electric heavy truck, bus, and van sectors.
Johnny Lee, CEO of U Power, highlighted this agreement as a key strategic move to expand OEM partnerships and scale the battery-swapping ecosystem in existing and new markets. The expected outcomes of this partnership include the accelerated establishment of a comprehensive battery-swapping ecosystem in targeted markets, reducing range anxiety for commercial EV users.
The partnership is also expected to increase market share and global footprint for both companies by leveraging complementary strengths—U Power’s swapping technology and Beijing Foton’s vehicle manufacturing and sales network. Over the next three years, approximately 600 four-wheeled and 5,000 two-wheeled battery-swapping vehicles are anticipated to be promoted through this collaboration, indicating significant commercial deployment targets.
The agreement may still expand to include additional cooperation opportunities in the future. U Power anticipates a strong collaboration with Beijing Foton to strategically expand its global footprint. Both parties will connect vehicles with U Power's battery-bank ecosystem, and Beijing Foton will gather and share performance data on battery health, charging behavior, and capacity to optimize battery management and vehicle performance.
This partnership marks a significant step forward in the electrification of commercial vehicles and the development of battery-swapping infrastructure in emerging markets where charging infrastructure can be limited, making battery swapping a practical solution for commercial fleet operators.
- The partnership between U Power and Beijing Foton, spanning industries such as technology, finance, and energy, aims to deploy approximately 5,500 battery-swapping vehicles (4,600 four-wheeled and 900 two-wheeled) over the next three years, leveraging Beijing Foton's vehicle manufacturing and sales network and U Power's battery-swapping technology.
- In the realm of data-and-cloud-computing, both U Power and Beijing Foton plan to connect vehicles to U Power's battery-bank ecosystem, gathering and sharing performance data on battery health, charging behavior, and capacity to optimize battery management and vehicle performance in their effort to strategically expand their global footprint.
