NIO inks battery-swapping deal with Geely, open to other peers joining (updated)

NIO

28/09/2026 01:31

Adds comments from executives, share prices, and background
Shares in NIO rise 3.2% following the deal annoucement
Partners will develop common battery-swapping standards and compatible vehicle models
NIO targets 10,000 swap stations by 2030; Geely plans 22,000 charging stations by 2027
By Ju-min Park and Roshan Thomas
Sept 28 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO 9866.HK said on Monday it had signed a deal with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group on their battery-swapping and charging businesses, in a bid to jointly expand and improve their charging networks.
Under the deal, Geely Holding Group will acquire a 30% stake in NIO Power, NIO's battery-swapping and charging unit, NIO said in a statement.
For the purchase, Geely will contribute its 100% equity in its battery-swapping subsidiary Yiyi Power, plus 640 million yuan ($95 million)  in cash. That transaction values NIO Power at about 16 billion yuan ($2.38 billion), according to NIO.
Chinese EV makers have been stepping up their battle for technological supremacy in ultra-fast charging, with Nio developing more than 4,000 battery-swap stations where a full battery replacement takes about three minutes, while Geely Auto, a flagship affiliate of Geely Holding Group, unveiled a 4-minute charging technology last week. 
NIO Power aims to have 10,000 battery swap stations in operation by 2030, with annual electricity demand expected to exceed 10 billion kWh, while Geely plans to expand its network to over 22,000 charging stations by the end of 2027.
In an industry-wide race over fast EV charging, their rival BYD 002594.SZ has been building tens of thousands of flash-charging stations.
Following the announcement, shares in NIO rose 3.2%, recovering from losses in the two previous sessions.
     The companies touted their partnership as a new model in China's car industry to build a denser and more reliable charging network to ease anxiety for EV drivers, leaving the door open for other peers to join.
The two companies will co-develop unified swapping standards and vehicle models, NIO said.
"The collaboration between NIO and Geely in charging and battery swapping is open to the broader industry. We welcome and look forward to more industry peers joining us," NIO CEO William Li said.
     As part of the deal, NIO will acquire a 10% equity stake in Geely's smart charging subsidiary, Haohan Energy.
($1 = 6.7128 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru and Ju-min Park in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Lincoln Feast.)
((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com;))