BAIC Foton sets 5,000-station charging goal for electric trucks

Sophie Lindqvist

BAIC Foton has set a goal of 5,000 standardized, integrated fast-charging stations for electric trucks, without disclosing a deployment timetable. The Chinese commercial-vehicle manufacturer, also known as Beiqi Foton Motor, launched the Supercharger industry alliance and charging ecosystem at a corporate event in Beijing.

Battery makers CATL and Sunwoda joined TELD, a charging-network operator, and Hunan Jingneng New Energy Technology, a charging-hardware manufacturer. The alliance's stated purpose is to implement 5,000 standardized, integrated charging stations, but the announcement gives no station-opening schedule.

BAIC Foton's separate overseas target calls for more than 3,000 stations by 2027. The planned footprint covers Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and Europe. The announcement does not clarify whether those units form part of, or add to, the broader 5,000-station goal.

What does the ecosystem connect?

The Supercharging strategy combines vehicles, charging stations, the power grid and the cloud. BAIC Foton says this shifts truck charging from a single-vehicle service toward comprehensive energy services, using vehicle and charger data to plan and operate the network.

Its stated architecture has four platforms:

• Connected vehicle data
• Charging processes
• Energy interactions between vehicles and the power grid
• Battery management

BAIC Foton reports more than 3.5 million connected vehicles online, 3 petabytes (PB) of daily data-processing capacity and more than 770,000 linked charging terminals. It says this scale provides data support for network planning and operations. These are company-reported platform figures, not a disclosed count of megawatt-capable sites.

Which trucks support megawatt charging?

The Aumark Z is a light-duty truck based on a dedicated electric platform, with maximum charging power of 1.05 megawatts (MW). BAIC Foton stated: “Thanks to an 8C charging rate and this peak performance, the battery can be charged from 20 to 80 per cent in eight minutes.” The announcement provides no independent test data for that result.

Two heavy-duty models, the Auman Galaxus and Cavan Beacon, are set to receive megawatt charging ports. Foton did not disclose maximum charging power or a complete charging time for either model. It said approximately 100 kilometers of range can be restored in six minutes.

The manufacturer positions the trucks for express logistics, refrigerated transport, port operations and bulk logistics. It supplied no production dates, battery capacities or pricing for these heavy-duty configurations.

The Cavan Beacon platform predates this launch, following Foton's presentation of a derivative at IAA Transportation. The heavy-duty platform accommodates low- and zero-emission drivetrains. Foton has announced both a battery-electric and a hydrogen-powered 40-tonne truck based on the platform.

How does the station manage power?

The station Foton presented in Beijing accepts 10-kilovolt alternating-current input and provides 1,000-volt direct-current output. The unit can couple with photovoltaic generation (on-site solar) and stationary battery storage (fixed batteries). Its dual-gun arrangement lets two charging cables serve one vehicle simultaneously.

Qin Zhidong, vice president of BAIC Foton, said the system is intended to “improve logistics efficiency, reduce operating costs, and support greener commercial transportation worldwide.” He also identified virtual power plants (aggregated distributed power resources), battery leasing and second-life battery use (reuse of vehicle batteries in fixed storage) as possible extensions.

The announcement remains a plan rather than operating proof. BAIC Foton has not said when the Auman Galaxus or Cavan Beacon will enter production, when the first overseas stations will open, or how many sites will deliver megawatt charging.

Watch next for model launch dates, installed-capacity milestones against the 3,000 overseas and 5,000 alliance targets, and policy decisions affecting deployment across the four target regions.