What you need to know:
- Horizon Motor, an electric commercial vehicle manufacturer based in Athens, Ohio, has received EPA certification for its Class 3–7 electric trucks.
- Horizon stands out by offering trucks that support either battery swapping or traditional plug-in charging, unlike most competitors.
- In China, battery swapping is growing fast, with 30,000 commercial EVs using it sold last year.
- Horizon CEO Sean Jones describes an automated swap system and a smaller, portable version that could work in warehouses.
One of the more interesting and still under the radar battery-electric commercial vehicle manufacturers has just received EPA certification for its Class 3-7 lineup.
Athens, Ohio-based Horizon Motor confirmed the federal agency's approval in a LinkedIn post earlier this month, stating that it's "ready to partner with fleet operators, municipalities, and bodybuilders to drive America's clean-transport future."
What makes Horizon stand out from competitors (startups and legacy brands) is that its trucks can be equipped with either battery swapping or a traditional plug-in setup.
Battery swapping remains an emerging technology in most of the world, including North America. In China, however, the tech is quickly gaining traction for commercial EVs because it can be a faster alternative to traditional plug-in charging.
An estimated 30,000 heavy commercial vehicles with swappable batteries were sold there last year with CATL and Nio being two of the country's leading battery swap infrastructure companies.
A smarter way to charge? Yes, but...
A pure battery-powered Class 8 semi, for example, requires overnight charging without a Megawatt charging system (MCS), which can reduce the charging time to just 20 minutes.
[Related: Megawatt charging explained: What it is and why it matters]
Smaller Class 4 EVs, such as the Bollinger B4, has a DC fast charge time of 2 hours at 110 kW and an AC Level 2 charge time of 9 hours at 19.2 kW, according to the manufacturer.
[Related: Explore the Bollinger Motors B4 Chassis Cab like never before]
Battery swapping, however, takes about five minutes to complete. The downside is there are currently very few swapping stations in the country. Ample is one of the few market players in the U.S. and is predominately focused on last-mile delivery and passenger EVs. It also has a presence in Asia.
[Related: Mitsubishi Fuso, Ample join forces for swappable EV truck batteries]
Horizon Motors CEO Sean Jones told Clean Trucking earlier this year that with its battery swap system, "the truck driver pulls into the swap station. The station automatically lifts up, unscrews these batteries, takes them away, puts in a whole new set. The whole thing takes less than five minutes."
That's about how long it takes to fill up with traditional diesel.
Jones added that Horizon is "developing a small system that could be put in almost any warehouse where basically it's a cart that goes underneath, lifts up, unscrews the battery, and then swaps it out that way so you wouldn't have to have the full giant battery swap system."
Learn more from Jones about Horizon's lineup and the company's plans in our exclusive interview at the 2025 ACT Expo.
