China FAW becomes the seventh to join the Nio-led battery swap alliance after GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Geely Holding, Chery, JAC and Lotus.
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William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of Nio (NYSE: NIO), confirmed his company’s partnership with China FAW on battery swap, after the partnership was reported in the media last week.
“I’m at an airport in Changchun, and today FAW and Nio entered into a full strategic partnership on charging and battery swap,” Li said last night in a video posted on short-form video platform Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.
Changchun, Jilin, in northeastern China, is home to the headquarters of China FAW. This means that FAW becomes the seventh to join the Nio-led battery swap alliance after GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Geely Holding, Chery, JAC and Lotus.
Li didn’t provide any further details on the partnership, and official channels for Nio and FAW have yet to release a formal statement.
Nio’s previous partnerships with other automakers have included the construction and sharing of battery swap networks and the development of battery swap-enabled models.
Nio regards its battery swap service as similar to a cloud service, and Li has mentioned several times that the service has reached a point where it can be opened up to partners.
As of May 21, Nio had 2,420 battery swap stations in China, 800 of which are located along highways, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
China FAW, one of the country’s largest car companies, has also dabbled in battery swap-enabled models in its product array, albeit mainly for the ride hailing market.
In November 2021, FAW’s Hongqi brand delivered 100 Hongqi E-QM5 cars, the brand’s first battery swap-enabled model, to cab industry partners in Changchun.
In addition to confirming the partnership with FAW on battery swap, Li mentioned in his short video yesterday that he would be taking a flight from Changchun to Beijing and will be departing from Beijing for Frankfurt, Germany at 2:30 am on May 22 Beijing Time.
“Tomorrow Qin Lihong and I will drive together from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to witness the opening of our new Nio House in Amsterdam,” Li said.
He said he will demonstrate Nio’s battery swap service in Europe via live video streaming starting around 3 pm Beijing Time on May 22.
Qin is the co-founder and president of Nio.
Nio’s swap stations along highways reach 800, 1/3 support swap on pilot