Chinese EV maker NIO announced it has entered into strategic cooperation on charging and battery swapping with Lotus Technology.
According to the agreement, the two companies will carry out comprehensive and in-depth strategic cooperation in areas related to charging and swapping including battery standards, charging and swapping technologies, battery asset management and operations, service network construction and operations, vehicle R&D and customization, and connectivity, to build a unified battery standard system, jointly develop passenger vehicles adapted to the battery swapping system, facilitate the connectivity of battery swapping networks and operators with unified battery swapping operational and management system, establish an efficient battery asset management system, press ahead with the interconnectivity of different charging platforms, and put in place a unified high-power charging technology system and a reliable and shared high-power charging network.
As of today, NIO had installed 2,404 Power Swap Stations across China, in which 790 Stations sit along expressways, connecting the 13 backbone expressways and 11 city clusters into an expressway power swap network, providing recharging experiences that are easier than refueling.
NIO had put in place 3,776 charging stations and 21,995 NIO Chargers, including 364 NIO Power Charger Stations and 1,422 NIO Power Chargers along expressways. In the spirit of openness, NIO Chargers are available to users of all new energy vehicle (NEV) brands, with over 80% of the electricity provided to non-NIO EVs.
As the first of the world’s top three supercar brands to be all in on going electric and intelligent, Lotus has always been committed to leading the smart travel experience in the luxury battery electric vehicle sector by leveraging cutting-edge technologies. While providing the ultimate luxury BEVs, Lotus has also been actively exploring and leading the way in innovative recharging solutions based on various user needs, bringing users superfast charging experience with its industry-leading 800V Electric Premium Architecture (EPA). As of now, a total of 72 Lotus Flash Charger stations have been up and running.
William Li, Founder, Chairman and CEO of NIO, said, “Cooperation is always the best option. NIO has always been open to cooperation in charging and swapping technologies as well as infrastructure network deployment. We would like to work together with Lotus to push forward the development of the premium smart electric vehicle market, make joint efforts in technological innovation and standard unification for charging and swapping, push for a larger-scale, standardized and unified energy infrastructure network, so as to deliver efficient and friendly recharging service experiences to users.”
Qingfeng Feng, CEO of Group Lotus, said, “As an important direction supported and encouraged by the state policies, the innovations of battery swap and ‘vehicle-battery’ separation not only protect battery health and safety, but also enable users to continuously enjoy the dividends of battery technology progress. Our cooperation with NIO to share with each other the charging and swapping resources will allow our users to experience the track genes and ultimate performance of Lotus while enjoying friendly services of NIO’s charging and swapping network across China.”
As a global smart electric vehicle (EV) brand, NIO is committed to delivering high-performance smart EVs with the ultimate user experience. With a comprehensive recharging infrastructure network, NIO has become the car brand with the largest number of charging and swapping installations in China, forming a “Chargeable, Swappable and Upgradable” power service system based on NIO’s cloud technologies.
