This means that future Polestar, Volvo and even Lotus owners may soon be able to brag about their battery-swapping tech, and also significantly reduced downtime

HANGZHOU, CHINA

NIO holding, has entered into a deal with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, to standardise swappable battery model development, battery asset management and network expansion. The deal with Geely, comes shortly after NIO announced a tie-up with another Chinese manufacturer, Changan Automobile.

NIO, which began producing automobiles as recently as 2016, is known for its battery-swapping technology (like in this second-generation ES8). Currently, the company is said to lose close to $50,000 per car sold, as trade barriers from both North-American and European markets cast a pall on production numbers.

The agreement with Geely will mean significantly reduced cost in technology development and unified battery swap facilities. Apart from standardising battery swapping standards for cars, both companies will also go on to co-develop another set of standards for commercial vehicles. The move will not only benefit Geely’s domestic brands, but marques like Volvo, Polestar, Lotus and even Malaysian-born Proton, which come under Geely’s multi-brand portfolio, may very likely benefit from the technological crossover in the future.

Currently, an automobile from NIO will take between three to five minutes to perform a battery swap, at one of its battery swapping stations.

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“Green sustainable development and carbon neutrality have become a global consensus,” said Eric LI, Founder and Chairman of Geely Holding, “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 Yiyi Power has achieved positive results in the operation across multiple cities nationwide and is continuing to grow. 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, support the low-carbon transformation and high-quality development of the automotive industry, and offer a better electric mobility experience for users.”

“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 popularise battery swapping, bring quality and convenient battery swapping experience to more users and contribute to the steady development of the smart EV industry. We will continue to advance the construction of NIO’s battery-swapping network for NIO users, continually enhancing the charging experience for our users, and collaborating with partners to initiate the construction of a battery-swapping network for multi-brand sharing.”

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