CATL brings Tectrans II truck and bus battery to IAA with 1,000 km top range
CATL used the IAA Transportation 2026 show in Hanover to reveal Tectrans II, a modular commercial-vehicle battery it says can take trucks and buses as far as 1,000 km.
- 1,000 km
- 170 Wh/kg
- 25 minutes
- 12 years / 1.5 million km
What Happened
CATL brought its next-generation commercial-vehicle battery system to the IAA Transportation 2026 show in Hanover. The company described Tectrans II as an offering for trucks and buses, aimed at speeding up electrification of freight hauling worldwide. The launch took place at the industry's commercial-vehicle trade fair in Germany.
- Maximum range reaches 1,000 km
- 170 Wh/kg energy density; CATL says that is roughly 13% higher than the norm
- Roughly 0.6 tonnes more payload for a battery of the same capacity
- Megawatt charging can bring the battery to 80% in 25 minutes
- 96 percent system round-trip efficiency
- Designed for 12 years or 1.5 million km of service with 70 percent capacity retention
1,000km
Top configuration of the modular Tectrans II pack for commercial vehicles.
The pack is built as a modular platform spanning heavy-duty trucks, medium-duty trucks and buses. Fleets and automakers can vary how many standardized packs go into a vehicle, which sets energy capacity, payload and driving distance. CATL says the platform fixes outer dimensions, electrical connectors and messaging protocols, so battery technology can be updated later without redesigning the whole vehicle. It works with either e-axle or central-drive architectures and can switch between plug-in charging and battery swapping. The company says the approach can shorten vehicle development cycles and reduce engineering work.
At the same event CATL and DHL Group announced a memorandum to develop Green Freight Corridors in Europe. The two already had an agreement from September 2024, and the new memorandum extends the work into vehicle development and operations. DHL brings its logistics network, operational know-how and real transport needs, while CATL brings battery technology and an electrification ecosystem. The partners plan to work with automakers and others on purpose-built electric vehicles and pilot deployments.
Why this matters
Trucks and buses are the hardest vehicles to electrify, because range, charging time and lost payload all hurt fleet economics. CATL's claims — a 1,000 km top range, megawatt-level charging and extra payload at the same capacity — speak directly to those barriers. The memorandum with DHL Group suggests the company wants the technology tested on real European freight routes, with automakers building the vehicles.
Terms in This Story
- gravimetric energy density
- How much energy a battery stores per unit of mass; a higher figure lets a pack hold the same capacity while weighing less.
- round-trip efficiency
- The share of the energy put into a battery that can later be drawn back out and used.
- megawatt-level charging
- Charging at power levels measured in megawatts, far above ordinary car fast chargers, which shortens charge times for very large batteries.
- e-axle
- A single drive unit that packages an electric motor, gearing and power electronics into one axle assembly.
A brief summary; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.