China-based EV company Nio secured a partnership with another traditional carmaker in China. Nio signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Geely Holding on November 29 for battery swapping.
Nio has been scaling its battery-swapping stations and services inside and outside China. According to the company's website, it has set up 2187 battery-swapping stations worldwide and completed over 32 million times of services. More than 2,000 of the stations were constructed in China. Bloomberg reported that Nio plans to build 1,000 battery-swapping stations in 2023.
The company formed a strategic partnership with Geely on Wednesday. Geely has a subsidiary focusing on developing battery-swapping technology for ride-hailing service vehicles.
According to a statement, Nio and Geely will collaborate on forming swapped battery standards and technologies. They also intend to establish service networks and develop EVs supporting battery swapping together.
Less than 10 days ago, Nio built a similar partnership with Changan Automobile, another China-based traditional carmaker. The pair will collaborate on the ownership, technologies, maintenance and financing of swapped batteries as well as vehicle development, according to Bloomberg.
Chinese media reported that William Li, Nio's co-founder and CEO, said the company has discussed partnerships with another four to five automakers when announcing the collaboration with Changan.
Rumors have emerged in the industry that China-based JAC Motors might be Nio's next partner in battery swapping. JAC has been manufacturing EVs for Nio. Neither company has responded to the speculation.
