Chinese firms Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and NIO have recently signed a strategic partnership agreement on battery swapping, agreeing to carry out comprehensive cooperation on battery standards, battery swapping technology, network expansion and operation, swappable model development, and battery asset management in the country.
Yiyi Power under Geely Holding is looking to expand its presence in the battery swapping front for commercial vehicles in Chinese cities. On the other hand, NIO's swappable battery service system is offering private car users with one of the best recharging solution in the industry.
With preferential policies and an expanding networks, the companies believe that the battery swapping is being embraced by more EV users. Both the parties has agreed to complement each other's advantages on the basis of their existing businesses and strategically cooperate in the area of battery swapping.
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That way, the companies will co-develop two battery swapping standards for private cars and commercial vehicles, accelerate the development and promotion of battery swapping technology on the vehicle end, and expand the operational scale of battery swapping to provide comprehensive services for users with different needs.
Further, the partners will establish an efficient battery asset management mechanism, build a unified battery swap operation, and develop battery swappable vehicles compatible with each other's battery swap systems, according to their joint press statement.
"NIO and Geely share a profound understanding of battery swapping and have been dedicated to the investment in the battery swapping technology and network for private cars and commercial vehicles with rich experience in swapping service and operations," said William LI, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO.
"As a leading company in the Chinese automotive market, Geely Holding's rapid development in the new energy field is impressive. This strategic partnership will further popularize battery swapping, bring quality and convenient battery swapping experience to more users and contribute to the steady development of the smart EV industry", he added.
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Eric LI, Founder and Chairman of Geely Holding, commented on the development, "As one of the most innovative methods for recharging electric vehicles, the future development of battery swapping technology requires the joint efforts of all parties in the industry to advance it".
"Geely's Yiyi Power has already achieved good results in many cities and continues to expand across the country. Through this strategic cooperation in battery swapping, the two parties will strengthen their cooperation in the battery swapping industry chain, accelerate the adoption of unified standards, expand the ecosystem for battery swapping and charging", he added.
Given the Chinese EV ecosystem's fast and dynamic progress in recent times, the partnership between Geely and NIO will further standardize battery swapping technology and increase the scale of the battery swap networks in the country.