In the first half of 2026, a dark horse emerged on China's new energy heavy-duty truck track – Zero One Motors.

With two rounds of financing totaling nearly $400 million, gathering leading industrial capital; submitted a Hong Kong IPO application on May 28; becoming the only company among domestic heavy truck new forces to enter the 'Hurun Global Unicorn List'. At the same time, products have been precisely implemented, successively entering mountain heavy-duty and port short-distance hauling scenarios, with market share steadily rising.

How did Zero One Motors achieve rapid breakthrough? Zhang Wei, co-founder and COO of Zero One Motors, gave an answer in an interview with Transport People Network.

Seizing the Momentum: Anchoring on Scenario Breakthrough Points.

On July 10, Zero One Motors released a pure electric port tractor solution at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, signed strategic agreements for 1,000 units with five major ports, with the first batch of 200 units delivered.

When discussing the initial intention to enter the port scenario, Zhang Wei first addressed the trends.

"The national 11 ministries have just released a policy, clearly stating that by 2030, the new energy penetration rate for commercial vehicles should reach 40%, with sales exceeding 1.6 million units. Last year, sales of new energy heavy-duty trucks were only over 200,000 units, and the year before, 80,000 units, with overall penetration still at a low level, indicating vast growth potential."

In Zhang Wei's view, ports are a highly certain breakthrough point. Across the country, there are approximately 200,000 to 300,000 heavy-duty trucks in operation at ports, but the proportion of electric vehicles is less than 5%. With stricter environmental policies, clear vehicle replacement targets, and the cost advantage of the oil-electric price difference, electrification has become an 'essential question' for ports.

Buyers are also changing. Zhang Wei pointed out that individual truckers, lacking refined management capabilities, are gradually exiting, making fleets the main buyers. For fleets with cost calculation capabilities, electric heavy-duty trucks often represent a better solution.

With multiple factors converging, the dividend period for port scenarios has arrived. Zero One's entry now is both a trend-following move and a bid to seize the initiative. Zhang Wei revealed that after the special port tractor model is launched, the goal is to sell 600 to 800 units per month, with an ambition to surpass 1,000 units monthly next year.

Focusing on Substance: Building Product Moat with 'Addition and Subtraction'.

In terms of product philosophy, Zero One emphasizes 'absolute pragmatism'.

Zhang Wei stated bluntly: "Commercial vehicles are not consumer goods; business owners only care about attendance rate and return on investment. Large screens and luxury co-driver features add costs and increase failure risks for fleets. For every additional configuration, we must answer: is the customer willing to pay for it? Can it bring benefits?"

Therefore, unnecessary configurations are subjected to 'subtraction'; efficiency and safety are subjected to 'addition'.

Around the port scenario, Zero One has introduced battery versions with 400 kWh, 513 kWh, 528 kWh, and 600 kWh capacities, covering needs such as terminal short-distance transfer, out-of-port transport, yard collection-distribution, and external hauling, while offering both charging and battery-swapping formats. The charging version supports 3-gun 900A super fast charging, taking only 40 minutes for 20%-80%; the swapping version fully integrates with CATL's 'Qiji Battery Swap' network.

Currently, existing CATL Era Qiji 513 battery-swap products achieve 5-minute swapping, so what is Zero One's differentiation?

The core lies in the fact that all Zero One products are equipped with the self-developed second-generation Jushi™ electric drive axle, with integrated hardware and software coordination, making them highly mature in technology and solidly implemented in electric drive axle heavy-duty truck products.

The highly integrated design of its electric drive axle reduces vehicle weight by over 200 kilograms, solving the pain point of 'tonnage loss', while achieving system maximum efficiency of 94%, with average electricity consumption of less than 1 kWh per kilometer.

To address the industry pain point of electric vehicles 'stalling' in northern winters, Zero One has pioneered the Xingyuan vehicle-level multi-source heat pump thermal management system. In extreme cold conditions, it saves over 70% energy compared to traditional solutions, significantly expanding the vehicle's operational range.

The mountain heavy-load model launched in May this year also features a dual-source steering safety system. When steering, if the main power is disconnected, the low-voltage system takes over in milliseconds, preventing loss of control risks. Zhang Wei stated: "This is a real demand from customers operating in mountainous areas in Yunnan, and all our improvements originate from real scenarios."

Speed is Key: Achieving 'Zero One Efficiency'.

Facing traditional heavy truck giants, what are Zero One's advantages? Zhang Wei's answer: an asset-light model and a rapid response mechanism.

"We don't have the burdens of traditional automakers; we only focus on new energy chassis and autonomous driving, so resources are more concentrated."

The organizational structure remains flat. Issues from customers or dealerships can directly reach the founding team, enabling quick decisions and swift implementation. Zhang Wei emphasized: "Short, flat, and fast are our core competencies. Even if we sell 100,000 units annually in the future, this mechanism must be maintained."

Zhang Wei previously served as marketing head at Foton Motor and Sinotruk, bringing extensive channel management experience. Zero One has not overly relied on major customers; through a mature channel system, dealerships contribute over 70% of sales. Customer structure extends to small and medium fleets, and marketability capabilities are gradually being validated.

Targeting the Endgame: From Vehicle Manufacturing to 'Transport Robots'.

Zero One's ultimate vision is to become a 'globally leading transport robot company'. In Zhang Wei's view, this is the core logic behind sustained capital market interest in Zero One.

Among Zero One's shareholders, CATL's Puquan Capital is the largest external shareholder, with Momenta making multiple investments to strengthen autonomous driving algorithm synergy, and Zijin Mining and other industrial players deeply opening up real scenarios. These shareholders' support provides deep coordination in technology, supply chain, and scenarios.

Huang Zehua, founder and CEO of Zero One Motors, has endowed the company with a strong autonomous driving gene. Compared to pure algorithm companies, Zero One uniquely possesses integrated capabilities in positive-platform vehicle research and development, and 'end-to-end' heavy-duty truck autonomous driving.

It is understood that Zero One's heavy-duty trucks adapted for autonomous driving solutions have already been delivered, and its self-developed ZSD end-to-end heavy truck intelligent driving system is steadily advancing toward L4-level autonomous driving on trunk routes.

With the maturity of the product line, the release of ecosystem synergy benefits, and the scaling up of production capacity and delivery, each step of Zero One Motors lands precisely at the intersection of scenario needs and market rhythm.