Tesla and Nio supplier CATL confirms battery swap rumours

Chinese battery giant and supplier of batteries for EV giant Tesla and China EV maker Nio, CATL, has confirmed rumours and announced that it will be entering the battery swap market.

According to several local sources quoting the company’s official WeChat account, CATL is set to hold a launch event on Tuesday unveiling its battery swap brand, to be called EVOGO.

Read more: CATL says Evogo battery swap will work with 80% of all pure EVs

Little is known in the way of specifics at this point – unsurprising, considering all we have had so far are rumours and unconfirmed reports, and CATL has only just announced its plans for a launch event. So all we have to go on is the intended battery swap brand, EVOGO.

However, we do know that in December CATL signed a partnership agreement with the Guizhou province in southwestern China which would see them build a battery swap network. The company is a leader in battery manufacture in China, and reportedly commanded 52% of the market there in 2021.

According to Chinese EV media, CATL and the Guizhou provincial government signed an agreement on December 24 which would see the two cooperate on an EV battery swap network across the region and promotion thereof.

Similarly, though relying on the trustworthiness of social media users, photos have been circulating on social media of CATL-branded battery swap stations.

Nio is already a pioneer in EV battery swapping, with almost 800 stations in China at which Nio electric car owners can swap their batteries for a fully charged on one a matter of minutes. If CATL is moving into this space, it could mean more options for Nio owners, and make it easier for other China EV makers to enter the battery swap space.

Battery swapping can help make owning an EV cheaper for drivers, because instead of paying for the battery – a major reason EVs are so expensive – this can be provided under a “battery-as-a-service” monthly payment model.

But, it is not likely that Tesla (which makes around 50% of its cars at a factory in Shanghai) will join the fray. It is currently making plans to build Model Y and Model 3 with structural battery packs which would presumably require a considerable re-think to make them swappable.

More than that, we don’t know yet, and we await CATL’s official January 18 launch event (at 6:30pm Tuesday evening Australia time) for its EVOGO battery swap plans.