CATL’s New Tectrans II Battery Could Make Electric Delivery Trucks Charge Almost as Fast as Refueling
CATL is pushing electric vehicle charging closer than ever to the speed of a traditional fuel stop. With its new Tianxing II, also known as the Tectrans II battery, the company is targeting one of the most demanding parts of the EV market: light commercial vehicles such as delivery vans, logistics trucks, and fleet vehicles that cannot afford long downtime.
The biggest headline is the charging speed. CATL says the Tectrans II battery can charge from 20% to 80% in just 6 minutes and 48 seconds, thanks to an 8C charging rate. A full charge reportedly takes less than nine minutes. For fleet operators, that matters because every minute a delivery truck is parked is a minute it is not earning money.
This puts the new battery much closer to the familiar experience of pulling into a fuel station, filling up quickly, and getting back on the road. While electric cars have improved dramatically in range and performance, charging time has remained one of the biggest concerns for drivers and businesses. CATL’s latest commercial battery is designed to reduce that gap in a very practical way.
The Tectrans II follows CATL’s earlier advances in ultra-fast charging technology for passenger EVs, including the Shenxing III battery. However, the new battery is not simply about speed. It is built for the tougher use case of logistics and commercial transportation, where vehicles may rack up huge mileage and need to charge frequently without rapid battery degradation.
CATL says the Tectrans II battery is backed by a 10-year, one-million-kilometer warranty, equal to more than 600,000 miles. That combination of rapid charging and long service life is especially important for delivery fleets, where battery durability can make or break the total cost of ownership.
To achieve this, CATL says it reduced cell resistance by about half compared with the industry average. The company also redesigned the graphite interface inside the battery to help slow lithium loss, which is one of the factors that can reduce battery capacity over time. Lower internal resistance can improve charging performance, reduce heat, and help preserve battery health during repeated fast-charging sessions.
Cold-weather performance is another key selling point. In temperatures as low as -20°C, or -4°F, CATL claims charging time would only increase by around two and a half minutes. That could be valuable for logistics companies operating in colder regions, where EV charging speeds can often suffer significantly.
The larger goal is to make electric commercial vehicles easier to operate at scale. Fast-charging batteries are only part of the solution, so CATL is also working on rapid charging infrastructure designed to support its battery technology. The company has also reached an agreement with J&T to support the green transition of the logistics sector, including flash-charging and battery-swap stations along major delivery routes.
Several new EV battery technologies are beginning to approach gas-station-like charging times, but CATL’s Tectrans II stands out because it combines ultra-fast charging with a long warranty and high-mileage durability claims. For commercial fleets, that balance may be more important than charging speed alone.
If CATL can deliver this technology at scale, electric delivery trucks and vans could become far more attractive to logistics companies. The promise is simple: less time charging, more time driving, lower operating emissions, and a smoother path toward electrifying commercial transport.
