NIO and Geely sign charging and battery-swapping partnership; Geely takes 30% of NIO Power
NIO and Geely Holding Group will jointly invest in charging and battery swapping, with Geely taking a 30% stake in NIO Power and NIO taking 10% of Geely's Haohan Energy.
- 30%
- RMB 640 million
- 10%
- 10,000
What Happened
NIO and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group entered into a comprehensive strategic cooperation on charging and battery swapping, exchanging the agreement documents in Hangzhou on September 28, 2026. The two sides agreed to cooperate across technology, operations, and capital: they will jointly invest in their charging and battery swapping businesses, share technologies and standards, and develop a shared service network. Stanley Qu, CFO of NIO and Head of NIO Power, and Ron DAI Qing, Rotating President of Geely Holding Group, exchanged the documents, witnessed by NIO's William Li and Qin Lihong and by Geely's Andy AN Conghui and Gan Jiayue. NIO called the partnership a new model for open and mutually beneficial cooperation in China's automotive industry.
- Geely Holding Group invests in NIO Power through its 100% equity interest in subsidiary Yiyi Power plus RMB 640 million in cash, ending with a 30% stake in NIO Power.
- Yiyi Power's battery swapping business for commercial mobility services is integrated into NIO Power, which will keep optimizing its swapping network for commercial fleets and support Yiyi Power's commercial mobility growth.
- The two sides co-develop unified battery swapping technologies and standards for consumer-facing vehicle models; Geely develops the consumer battery-swappable models and NIO Power provides their swapping service.
- NIO invests in Haohan Energy, a Geely Holding Group subsidiary, for a 10% equity stake; the two then fully connect their charging infrastructure to expand coverage and improve network efficiency.
- 2,500 now; more than 22,000 by end-2027
- More than 12,000 now; more than 100,000 by end-2027
- 232 Chinese cities now; first in the industry to fully cover county-level cities, with more than 15,000 smart charging stations and over 50,000 smart connectors planned
RMB 20 billion
Invested as of September 27, 2026, across a Chinese network of 9,433 swapping and charging stations, including 4,126 Power Swap Stations and 5,307 charging stations with 30,598 charging piles.
Geely launches its next-generation AI-powered charging technology.
NIO's cumulative investment in charging and battery swapping technologies and infrastructure passes RMB 20 billion, with more than 220 million services delivered.
NIO and Geely Holding Group exchange their comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement in Hangzhou, China.
“Over the past decade, China's smart EV industry has made remarkable progress, driven by rapid advances in technology and continued innovation. Looking ahead, the industry needs not only to keep innovating, but also to become more efficient at turning innovation into value. This partnership brings together the strengths the two sides have built over the years, with closer collaboration across technology, standards, operations, assets, and capital. It represents an important exploration and innovative step toward addressing involution-style competition and building a more open and mutually beneficial industry ecosystem where automakers can work together to achieve high-quality growth. 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 in creating a better recharging experience for users, supporting the industry's transition to low-carbon, green energy, and shape a sustainable and brighter future.”
“High-quality development of the automotive industry is not about scale alone. It calls for more resilient supply chains, higher quality and greater efficiency, safer and greener development, and a more open and collaborative ecosystem. Recharging networks are public infrastructure that serve society as a whole. They should be built together, shared openly, and connected across networks, so that users ultimately benefit the most. Geely Holding Group has long driven innovation in core new energy vehicle technologies, building an all-scenario recharging network that combines charging and swapping. This partnership marks another step toward the high-quality development of China's intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry. With an open approach and a long-term commitment, Geely Holding Group will work with NIO and other industry partners to build a denser, more reliable, and safer recharging network, making mobility more seamless and worry-free for users.”
Why this matters
The deal ties together two of China's charging and battery-swapping networks, so drivers of both companies' cars could eventually rely on one shared recharging system. It also shows the two automakers pooling capital and standards rather than competing separately, which both describe as a way to counter involution-style competition and support the 15th Five-Year Plan for intelligent connected new energy vehicles.
Terms in This Story
- Battery swapping
- A recharging method in which a depleted battery pack is exchanged for a charged one at a dedicated station instead of plugging the vehicle in.
- Involution-style competition
- An industry term for intense competition in which companies fight over the same market in ways that erode value rather than create it.
- 15th Five-Year Plan
- A national Chinese planning document that sets economic and industrial development goals for a five-year period.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.