Chinese carmaker FAW joins Nio to promote battery-swap technology to ease anxieties over EV driving range

FAW becomes the biggest carmaker to support Nio’s battery-swapping technology as both aim to set industry standards

Nio and EV battery producer CATL had already agreed to develop new batteries with twice the lifespan of current packs

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Staff members check FAW’s Hongqi cars in an assembly line in Changchun in April 2019. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:30pm, 22 May 2024

China’s second-biggest carmaker FAW Group is teaming up with start-up Nio to promote battery-swap technology that would allay concerns among electric-vehicle (EV) owners about driving distance.

The two companies signed an agreement for strategic cooperation in pushing for battery technology standards, developing EVs with chargeability and swapability, and building a recharging service ecosystem, according to a statement in Shanghai on Wednesday.

FAW, which counts Volkswagen and Toyota as partners, became the largest carmaker to support Shanghai-based Nio’s technology amid a surge in EV adoption. The technology will allow electric-car owners to quickly swap a spent battery for a fully-charged pack, giving drivers confidence to make long trips nationwide. China is the world’s largest EV market, where four out of every 10 new cars are powered by batteries.

“The strategic cooperation is expected to further push forward the standardisation of battery-swap technology, the extension of the business model of battery swap, and a larger scale of battery swapping network,” William Li, co-founder and chairman of Nio, said in the statement.

CEO William Li stands next to its ET7 model on display at the Beijing Auto Show on April 25, 2024. Photo: AFP

FAW would promote the green and intelligence-based development of the automotive industry, said Qiu Xiandong, chairman of state-owned FAW, which is based in Changchun, the capital of northeastern Jilin province.