Changan Auto and NIO Partner on Battery Swapping

On November 21, 2023, Changan Automobile and NIO signed a partnership agreement on battery swapping in Chongqing, China. The two parties will jointly facilitate the formulation of standards for swappable batteries, build and share the battery swapping network, develop swappable vehicles, and establish an efficient battery asset management mechanism.

Huarong Zhu, Chairman and Party Secretary of Changan Automobile, and William Li, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of NIO witnessed the signing of the agreement. Changan Automobile is one of the top four automobile groups in China with a domestic and global manufacturing presence which achieved cumulative sales as of October 2023 of 25.6 million units.

Expanding the recharging network sits at the heart of the development of the smart electric vehicle industry. It is proven that battery swapping is a quick, efficient, and sustainable recharging solution for smart electric vehicles. 

Since 2020, multiple authorities in China have released documents and guidelines, such as the New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035), the Implementation Plan for Further Enhancing the Service Capability of Charging and Swapping Infrastructure, and the Notice on Launching Pilot Program of Swappable New Energy Vehicles, in an effort to promote the establishment of battery swapping network and standards. 

This is designed to encourage wider adoption of the battery swapping model, as well as support the formulation of standards for the battery swapping architecture on the battery electric vehicles, universal battery swapping platform, and swappable batteries, which will help maximize resource utilization. The partnership between Changan Automobile and NIO will play a key part in achieving these objectives.  

Changan Automobile’s expertise and manufacturing strength

As one of the top four automobile groups in China, Changan Automobile boasts an industrial history stretching back 161 years. With 39 years of experience in vehicle production, the company operates 12 manufacturing bases and 22 factories worldwide. 

As one of the representative automotive companies from China, Changan Automobile owns various homegrown brands, including Changan, Deepal, Avatr and Kaisheng, and has joint venture brands such as Changan Ford, Changan Mazda and JMC. As of October 2023, cumulative sales of these brands had totalled 25.3 million units. In 2017, Changan Automobile released the Project Shangri-La, with which the company has been expanding its new energy vehicle business and accelerating the establishment of its culture, efficiency and software capabilities as core competitiveness for a smart, low-carbon mobility and technology company.

NIO the world leader in battery swap technology

NIO is a leading smart electric vehicle company, and the world’s largest operator of battery swapping network for smart electric vehicles. To date, it has over 2,100 Power Swap Stations up and running worldwide. In 2023, NIO plans to install 1,000 new stations in China. As of November 20, NIO had provided over 32 million battery swaps for users. Enabled by more than 1,600 related patents, NIO Power Swap features an innovative system, unrivalled experience, openness, and business sustainability.

NIO and Changan Auto partnership commentary 

"As NIO started battery swap from the very beginning, it has been ready to open up its technologies and infrastructure to the entire industry. Similar to the cloud service provided by Internet companies, NIO's Power Swap network and Power Cloud also followed the path along which we started with developing infrastructure and achieving a closed loop internally, and then open to others after validating the service across various scenarios." said William Li, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO. 

"Over the past five years of development, NIO has accumulated rich experience in research and development, construction and operations of Power Swap Stations, and is ready to open to the entire industry. As a leading automotive company in China, Changan Automobile has demonstrated great determination and strong execution in electrification and transformation. With this partnership, NIO and Changan Automobile will jointly contribute to the development and transformation of the industry," Mr Li concluded.

"As China is doubling down on new energy and smart connected vehicles, the implementation of NIO's battery swapping model marks a significant milestone for the industry," said Huarong Zhu, Chairman of Changan Automobile.

"The partnership between Changan Automobile and NIO on battery swap is of great importance, contributing to the high-quality development of China's new energy vehicle industry. This partnership with NIO won’t be limited to battery swap. We will continuously strengthen our cooperation in other platform and fundamental areas, including energy, charging and swapping, vehicle development, and ecosystem, so as to jointly promote the high-quality development of the industry and build a sound, shared and mutually beneficial ecosystem," added Mr Zhu.

NIO expanding services for users in Europe

NIO Power Swap Stations (PSS) are becoming well established across Europe, with a network of 28 locations now available across Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. 

NIO has already established its first European factory in Budapest in 2022, which covers the assembly and after-sales service of battery swapping stations, training for power operations in Europe, and the research and development of NIO Power products.

The advanced technology provides a simple, cost-effective, convenient and extremely fast way for users to always remain mobile without having to be reliant on home charging solutions or locating public charging points.

NIO's extensive European PSS facilities were recently put to the test with two long distance drive events, including Netherlands to Austria and Germany to Norway, with both journeys relying solely on NIO's strategically positioned swap stations for the entire trips.

Each third-generation NIO PSS can perform up to 408 swaps per day – a 30% increase on PSS 2.0 - and increases total capacity from 13 to 21 batteries. The company's most recent PSS launched on the 25 October in Lehre, Germany.