NIO & GAC Become Partners On Charging & Swapping – CleanTechnica

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Guangzhou, Guangdong, China — NIO and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (“GAC Group”) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on charging and swapping in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. The two will engage in comprehensive and in-depth strategic cooperation in areas related to charging and swapping, including battery standards, vehicle R&D and customization, battery asset management and operations, swapping network development and operations. In the meantime, they will also promote the opening up of their respective charging platforms to each other. With William LI, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO, and Feng Xingya, President of GAC Group, attending the ceremony, Fei SHEN, Senior Vice President of NIO Power, and Xia Xianqing, Vice President of GAC Group, signed the agreement on behalf of the two parties.

According to the agreement, NIO and GAC Group will work together to build a unified battery standard, jointly develop passenger vehicles with swappability and battery swap stations compatible with models of both brands, push forward the launch of swappable vehicle models with batteries designed under the standards established by both, as well as advance the implementation of the swap station solution catering to both NIO and GAC vehicles. The two companies will also facilitate the opening up and interconnection of battery swapping networks that runs on a unified operational and management system, establish a larger, standardized, and unified power infrastructure network to achieve economies of scale. A management system covering the lifecycle of power batteries is also within the cooperation plan, and so are an efficient management platform and an operating mechanism for battery assets.

Based on their own charging facilities, NIO and GAC Group will realize dynamic data interconnectivity by the end of this month, making charging easier by enabling users to not only search for and navigate to a charger, but also start and pay for a charging session through the brands’ apps, mini-programs, and power maps on center displays.

William LI, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO, said,“NIO is happy to cooperate with GAC on charging and swapping. As a pioneer in the NEV industry, GAC Group boasts a large user base and rich experience in the construction and operations of charging and swapping infrastructure. The cooperation will amplify the two companies’ respective strengths in technology and operations, and push forward the unification of battery standards and operational and management systems, so as to make swapping a more approachable solution, and provide users with experiences as hassle-free as refueling.”

Feng Xingya, President of GAC Group, said, “Going forward, with the growing NEV population, battery swapping will unleash unlimited market opportunities, especially in cities. Because it actually solves a pain point for many users who don’t have dedicated parking spots. I’m glad to see that NIO and GAC can partner in this area. The strategic cooperation agreement that we signed today is also a foundation and guidance for our future cooperation. With it as a starting point, we hope to build more battery swap stations with which our GAC Aion users will have a better swapping experience.”

Embracing cooperation in charging and swapping technologies, as well as networks, NIO has partnered with Chang’an Automobile, Geely Holding Group, Chery Automobile, JAC Group, and Lotus for a standardized, unified power infrastructure network of broader coverage. Moreover, NIO has been engaged in comprehensive cooperation on swapping with companies in the energy sector, including SINOPEC, CNOOC, Shell, State Grid Corporation of China, China Southern Power Grid, Anhui Wenergy, and Zhong’an Energy, in the pursuit of a fast-developing battery swapping ecosystem, as well as more efficient and convenient recharging experiences.

About NIO

NIO is a global smart electric vehicle company. Founded in 2014, NIO has been committed to shaping a joyful lifestyle by offering high-performance smart electric vehicles and ultimate experience. Nine years into establishment, NIO is one of the leading companies in the global premium smart electric vehicle market, and also the first car company listed on the NYSE, HKSE and SGX.

Aiming to foster its own research and development capabilities for core technologies, NIO has developed NIO Full Stack, a collection of 12 technology domains, including chips and smart hardware, battery system, electric drive and high-voltage system, vehicle engineering, vehicle operating system, vehicle connectivity, assisted and intelligent driving, smart cabin, smart power, smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence and global digital operations, which has made possible the industry-leading products, such as SkyRide Chassis System, NX6031 LiDAR control chip, and NX9031 5nm AD chip. As of March 31, 2024, NIO had filed and obtained more than 8,700 patents worldwide. Currently, NIO has R&D centers and manufacturing facilities in Shanghai, Hefei, Beijing, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, San Jose, Munich, Oxford, Berlin, Budapest and Singapore. Its sales and service networks also have an expansive reach in over 300 cities in China, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

At present, NIO has eight smart electric models in its lineup, including the flagship SUV ES8, flagship coupe SUV EC7, mid-large SUV ES7, flagship sedan ET7, all-round SUV ES6, coupe SUV EC6, mid-size sedan ET5 and mid-size tourer ET5 Touring. In December 2023, NIO’s executive flagship ET9 made its global debut, and the delivery is expected to start in 2025. As of April 30, 2024, NIO delivered a total of 495,267 vehicles, leading the premium battery electric vehicle segment priced above RMB 300,000.

In addition to the state-of-the-art smart electric vehicle technologies and experience, NIO has introduced various innovative service models, featuring NIO Power, NIO Service, Battery as a Service (BaaS), flexible battery upgrade plan and NIO Certified which is NIO’s pre-owned vehicle program, to offer an ultimate service experience throughout the product lifecycle. NIO is the car brand that owns and operates the most charging piles and Power Swap Stations in China. By the end of April, NIO had installed 2,454 Power Swap Stations and 22,138 chargers, and connected with over 1.5 million non-NIO chargers worldwide. Its battery swap network runs through 13 trunk expressways and 11 city clusters in China. Moreover, NIO has partnered with Changan Automobile, Geely Holding, JAC Group and Chery Automobile in battery swap to jointly promote the development of the battery swap network and industry standards.

Adopting the direct-sales model, NIO offers a series of comprehensive services seamlessly via the NIO app. Combining online and offline touch points, such as NIO House and NIO Space, as well as NIO users’ exclusive radio program NIO Radio and the lifestyle brand NIO Life, NIO has created a community that starts from and goes beyond the car, where users to share joy and grow together.

Press release from NIO.