Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giants Geely Holding and Nio have announced a massive new partnership, with Geely acquiring a 30 per cent stake in Nio’s battery swapping and charging business, Nio Power.
Nio announced on Sunday that the deal with Geely was part of a “strategic transaction in battery swapping and charging businesses,” and involves RMB640 million (around $A135 million) in cash and the entire equity interest in its own battery swap business, Yiyi Power, which provides battery swapping services for the commercial mobility market.
Nio will retain a controlling interest of 63.6 per cent, while existing investor, the Wuhan Guangchuang Emerging Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership, will hold the remaining 6.4 per cent.
Geely has also been granted an option to pay a further RMB640 million within the two years to increase its equity interest in Nio Power to 34 per cent, which would bring Nio’s controlling equity interest down to 60 per cent.
The two companies have also made “preliminary plans” for Geely to adopt battery swapping technology and related services for both its consumer and commercial vehicle businesses.
Geely is one of the biggest and most successful car makers in China, with an increased focus on EVs, and its decision to put all its battery swapping eggs into Nio’s basket, while Nio is handing over its battery charging interests to Geely, appears significant.
Nio’s goal is to operate 10,000 battery swap stations by 2030, and Geely’s plan is to build more than 22,000 charging stations with over 100,000 charging connectors by the end of 2027.
