China-based CATL – one of the world’s largest producer of batteries – currently supplies a number of automakers with those units, and will also license lithium-iron phosphate battery technology to Ford, which it will use to build LFP batteries at the future BlueOval Battery Park Michigan site. This is also something that General Motors is considering, even amid allegations that CATL works with China’s military. Regardless, CATL has also been working on developing EV battery swapping stations, and has now formed a new partnership with NIO revolving around that same concept.
CATL just announced that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with NIO – a Chinese vehicle manufacturer – that aims to build the world’s largest battery swapping network and help standardize that same technology. Under this agreement, both companies will collaborate and leverage the strengths of each to create this network,which will be based on unified battery standards and help accelerate battery swapping services.
As part of the agreement, CATL will help NIO develop this battery swapping network, using its Choco-Swap technical standards for newly-developed NIO models. Both parties will operate their respective networks in parallel, which aims to provide a more seamless experience for users. Further down the road, CATL and NIO aim to make their battery swapping network the standard in China, as well as a part of the broader EV battery lifecycle from research and development to end-of-life recycling efforts.
CATL previously announced that consumers won’t be paying for battery packs when they swap them out, but rather, costs will be based on their usage. The company plans to build 1,000 Choco-Swap stations by the end of 2025, a number that will expand to around 30,000 in the coming years. By 2030, CATL expects battery swapping to account for around one-third of the overall market, with each station containing 14-30 battery packs with a total storage capacity of 33.6 million kWh.
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