Volvo, Polestar owner partners with NIO for EV battery swapping
Up-and-coming Chinese EV maker NIO is partnering with Geely, the company behind Volvo, Polestar, and several other brands for EV battery swapping.
Volvo owner taps NIO for EV battery swapping
NIO and Geely will collaborate on EV battery standards, new swapping tech, and network expansion. They will also tackle “swappable model development” and battery management.
Battery swapping can help EV drivers get back on the road quickly by replacing a depleted pack with a fully charged one.
NIO says the process can be done in as little as 3 minutes compared to fast charging, which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.
According to the press release Wednesday, Geely and NIO will work through a “co-investment, co-construction, shared, co-operative” model.
The plans include developing two battery-swapping standards and accelerating the tech for a convenient, safe experience. Both companies will develop EVs compatible with each other’s battery swap systems.
Geely has around 300 stations up and running and will continue to expand its network. The company said in 2021, it aimed to establish 5,000 swap stations by 2025.
“This strategic partnership will further popularize battery swapping, bring quality and convenient battery swapping experience to more users and contribute to the steady development of the smart EV industry,” said William Li, NIO’s CEO.
NIO expands battery swapping to improve profits
Geely is the second company to partner with NIO. Last week, NIO revealed a partnership with Changan Auto to expand the network.
The news comes as NIO looks to expand its brand and improve profitability. NIO said it would trim staff by 10% earlier this month amid “fierce competition.”
NIO and others in the Chinese EV market are feeling the pressure after leaders like Tesla and BYD drastically slashed prices this year.
In June, NIO cut prices by $4,200 (30,000 yuan) to keep up. However, the EV maker is facing falling margins and profits amid stronger competition. NIO’s losses reached $835M in Q2, up 199% from last year.
After a $1B convertible debt offering in Sept, NIO said it would use the capital to “further strengthen its balance sheet.” At the end of June, NIO had around $1.9B in cash and equivalents.
You can learn more about NIO’s new battery swap tech in the video below.
Electrek’s Take
Despite the struggles, NIO continues to expand its brand. NIO is one of the only major players in the battery swap space, which could prove to be a major advantage going forward.
Similar to how Tesla was a first mover in the US with its Supercharger network, NIO is doing the same with battery swapping. As of last week, NIO has built over 2,100 power swap stations globally.
With Volvo and Polestar’s Geely joining in, we could see others looking to join NIO’s network. We’ll keep you posted on the latest.
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China just connected its largest single-capacity solar farm built on a former coal mining area, which is in the Gobi Desert, to the grid.
The Mengxi Blue Ocean Photovoltaic Power Station, located in Otog Front Banner, Ordos, Inner Mongolia, came online on November 5. With a massive installed capacity of 3 gigawatts (GW) and over 5.9 million solar panels, the plant will generate around 5.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually – enough to power 2 million households.
This huge project will save about 1.71 million tons of standard coal each year and cut carbon dioxide emissions by roughly 4.7 million tons, which is equivalent to planting 62,700 hectares (around 155,000 acres) of trees.
Built on coal mining subsidence land, Mengxi Blue Ocean is part of China’s national West-East Electricity Transfer Project, which brings investment and development to western China west while supplying the growing need for electricity in the eastern provinces.
The solar farm includes the country’s first large-scale outdoor solar testing base in the Gobi Desert climate, demonstrating the potential for large solar installations in challenging environments.
The power station makes use of new rare earth alloy grounding materials, cutting costs by 40%. It also replaces traditional concrete foundations with steel to minimize impact on the local grassland ecosystem.
Chuang Xihong, deputy director of the Engineering Construction Department of Guodian Power Group, CHN Energy’s parent company, explained that Mengxi Blue Ocean is an agrivoltaic project as well [via PV Tech]:
Fine forage and sand-fixing plants are planted under the PV modules, providing grazing for Australian White Sheep and chickens. A composite ecological development model will be established where PV power generation and breeding will go hand in hand.
Read more: China powers up the world’s largest open-sea offshore solar farm
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