BEIJING, China: China’s sales of heavy trucks could be dominated by electric vehicles by 2028, with battery-powered models potentially making up half of all sales, up from just 10 percent in 2024, according to CATL chairman Zeng Yuqun.

Speaking at a battery-swapping launch event, Zeng’s remarks, reported by Shanghai’s Jiemian news site, indicate a significant shift that could further reduce fuel demand in the country’s trucking sector, which is already seeing an increase in LNG-powered trucks.

CATL, a leading battery manufacturer, announced over the weekend that it had begun operations at a 60 gigawatt-hour energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing base in Shandong, its first major facility in northern China. The project will expand with a second and third phase over the next two years, forming a large-scale battery cluster in the region, the company said in a WeChat post.

Shandong is positioning itself as a key player in China’s EV battery supply chain, aiming to build a 100 billion yuan (US$14 billion) lithium battery industry by the end of the year. The initiative includes the production of electrode materials, electrolytes, battery cells, and assembly, according to a notice issued by the local government last year.