NIO and Lotus announce plans to co-develop unified battery standards, charging, and swaps
Two big names in EVs announced a new strategic cooperation during the 2024 Beijing International Auto Show. Lotus Technology and NIO detailed plans to co-develop EV charging and battery swap technologies alongside wishes to create a unified battery standard system.
NIO Inc. ($NIO) may be best known for its premium EVs and its recent venture into smartphones, but it’s important to note that the Chinese automaker is the global leader in EV battery swap stations. As of October 2023, NIO has successfully completed over 30 million battery swaps around the world, proving the technology is a viable alternative to standard plug-in and charge EV practices.
Like NIO, Wuhan Lotus Technology Co., Ltd., better known as Lotus ($LOT), is another name with deep ties to China. It has been majority-owned by Geely Holding since 2017. As a result, Lotus has vowed to go all-electric and is off to an impressive start.
To date, the supercar developer has delivered three BEV models: The Emeya, Evija, and Eletre SUV, which just opened up sales in North America. In addition to all-electric supercars, Lotus Technology has introduced its own line of DC fast chargers that are liquid-cooled and can deliver rates up to 450 kW – no easy task.
Today, we can envision a future of even more advanced charging and battery swap technologies as NIO and Lotus shared intentions to work together in order to push the industry forward.
NIO and Lotus team up to reshape EV infrastructure
Following a public announcement from NIO and Lotus CEOs at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, the new strategic partners shared a press release detailing their plans to co-develop charging and battery swap technologies. Here’s their list of technological focuses to improve upon and co-develop:
- Charging and swapping technologies
- Battery asset management and operations
- Service network construction and operations
- Vehicle R&D and customization and connectivity
- Build a unified battery standard system
- Jointly develop passenger vehicles adapted to the battery swapping system
- Facilitate 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 interconnectivity of different charging platforms
- Establish a unified high-power charging technology system and a reliable and shared high-power charging network
That’s quite the to-do list for NIO and Lotus, but both CEOs relayed confidence that two EV-focused heads are better than one. Per NIO founder, chairman, and CEO William Li:
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.
This strategic cooperation has the makings to be something special, as NIO and Lotus share a granular focus on delivering luxury, ease of use, and holistic EV systems to their customers. Both have already proven they have the design and manufacturing prowess to make good on their promises, too – these companies aren’t just idea people.
NIO already operates the largest EV charging and battery swap network in China, while Lotus has quickly become one of the world’s only hypercar specialists to go all-electric and do so effectively, using its proprietary 800V architecture nonetheless. Lotus CEO Qingfeng Feng also spoke about the new deal with NIO:
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 the companies begin to co-develop charging and swap technologies, much of those initial implementations should hit China first. However, NIO and Lotus are, or are becoming, global EV brands, so we can expect fast chargers, swap stations, and unified battery standards to expand to other markets in Asia, Europe, and beyond.
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Environment
Chime prices IPO at $27 per share, valuing fintech company at $11.6 billion ahead of Nasdaq debut
Chime Visa Credit Card
Source: Chime
Chime priced its IPO at $27 per share on Wednesday, above the expected range, in an offering that values the provider of online banking services at $11.6 billion
The company raised roughly $700 million in the IPO, with another $165 million worth of shares being sold by existing investors. The stock is expected to begin trading Thursday under ticker symbol CHYM.
The offering comes after a years-long freeze in the fintech IPO pipeline, as rising interest rates and valuation resets kept many late-stage companies on the sidelines. The market has started to loosen. Trading platform eToro jumped 29% in its Nasdaq debut last month, and crypto company Circle popped after hitting the market last week.
Online lender Klarna, meanwhile, has delayed its IPO plans and last month reported steep quarterly losses.
Chime’s decision to go public — even after a steep cut from its last private valuation of $25 billion — marks a major test of investor appetite for consumer-facing finance companies. SoftBank, Tiger Global, and Sequoia all invested in the 2021 round at Chime’s private market peak.
The company’s top institutional shareholders are DST Global and Crosslink Capital, which owned 17% and 9.5%, respectively, of shares before the offering.
Chime’s core business — offering no-fee banking services, debit cards, and early paycheck access — draws most of its revenue from interchange fees. The company competes in various areas with fintech incumbents PayPal, Square and SoFi.
Revenue in the latest quarter climbed 32% from a year earlier to $518.7 million. Net income narrowed to $12.9 million from $15.9 million a year ago.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are leading the IPO.
WATCH: Chime files to go public
AES just completed the first half of Bellefield, which will become the largest solar + storage facility in the US.
The 1,000-megawatt (MW) Bellefield 1 project in Kern County, California, includes 500 MW of solar and 500 MW of four-hour battery storage, all under a 15-year contract with Amazon. When the full 2,000 MW Bellefield project is done, it will be the biggest solar-plus-storage installation in the country.
“Completing the first 1,000 MW of Bellefield demonstrates how rapidly solar and storage can be deployed to meet the growing energy demand of data centers,” said AES CEO Andrés Gluski.
AES has locked in deals with “major global hyperscalers” – think tech giants like Amazon and Meta – for more than 10 gigawatts of clean power. Bellefield is a big part of that.
To speed up the build and make it safer, AES used its own robot helper, Maximo. This AI-powered robotic system helped crews install solar panels faster and with more precision.
Once the full 2 GW project is online, Bellefield will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 467,000 homes annually. It’s expected to prevent more than 1 million metric tons of CO2 emissions annually and boost air quality in the region.
Construction of Bellefield 1 created more than 700 union jobs, and AES says Bellefield 2, which is expected to wrap in 2026, will create around 1,000 union jobs at peak.
AES says it will start recognizing revenue from Bellefield 1 later this year, right on schedule.
Read more: $14B in EV, renewable projects scrapped as tax credit fears grow
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Kia’s first electric sedan is already being called “a box office hit.” In just its second month on the market, the Kia EV4 was the best-selling domestic electric sedan in Korea.
Kia EV4 is Korea’s best-selling domestic electric sedan
After launching sales in Korea in April, Kia sold just 831 EV4 models in its first month. Local reports attributed the “limited deliveries” in April to delivery delays and issues with subsidies.
Kia expected sales to rebound quickly after government subsidies resumed, and it appears that the issues are being resolved.
In May, Kia EV4 sales reached 1,373 in Korea, making it the best-selling domestic electric sedan. Hyundai’s IONIQ 6 also saw higher demand, with sales up 100% from last May to 754 units.
With the IONIQ 6 refresh set to launch later this year, Hyundai is offering up to over $6,500 (9 million won) in discounts on the current model. Hyundai and Kia are dealing with an influx of new electric sedans with aggressive discounts from EV makers like BYD.
One industry insider called the Kia EV4 a “box office hit,” but it still has some time to earn that title. With a starting price of about $30,000 (41.92 million won), the EV4 is one of the most affordable models in its class.
It’s even cheaper than BYD’s Seal electric sedan, which launched in Korea in April, starting at 47.5 million won ($35,000).
The EV4 is available with two battery sizes: 58.3 kWh and 81.4 kWh, offering driving ranges of 382 km (237 miles) and 533 km (331 miles) in Korea, respectively.
Kia’s electric sedan can recharge from 10% to 80% in just under 30 minutes. The extended-range battery takes about 31 minutes to recharge.
Inside, you’ll find a similar setup to the brand’s other new EV models. The setup includes Kia’s new ccNC infotainment with nearly 30″ of combined display, including dual 12.3″ navigation and driver display screens, plus a 5″ climate control screen.
| Kia EV4 Trim | Starting Price |
| Kia EV4 Standard Air | 41.92 million won ($28,900) |
| Kia EV4 Standard Earth | 46.69 million won ($32,000) |
| Kia EV4 Standard GT-Line | 47.83 million won ($32,900) |
| Kia EV4 Long Range Air | 46.29 million won ($31,800) |
| Kia EV4 Long Range Earth | 51.04 million won ($35,000) |
| Kia EV4 Long Range GT-Line | 51.04 million won ($35,900) |
The real test will come later this year when Kia launches the EV4 in Europe, followed by the US in 2026. In the US, it will be available with the same 58.3 kWh and 81.4 kWh battery packs, offering ranges of up to 235 miles and 330 miles, respectively. On the WLTP scale, it’s rated with a range of up to 391 miles.
The EV4 will also feature a built-in NACS port in the US, enabling access to Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network.
Kia revealed plans to sell 165,000 EV4s a year globally, including 80,000 in Europe, 50,000 in the US, and 25,000 in Korea.
We will learn official prices closer to its launch, but the EV4 is expected to start at around $35,000 to $40,000 when it arrives in the US.
Source: Newsis, Kia
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