Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) maker Nio (NIO) just landed a deal that could reshape its battery-swapping ambitions. Recently, Nio announced definitive agreements with certain subsidiaries of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (GELHY), under which Geely will acquire a 30% stake in Nio Power, Nio’s battery-swapping unit. The deal gives Geely access to China’s largest network of battery-swapping stations and values Nio Power at roughly 16 billion yuan, or $2.4 billion.
For Nio, the partnership brings much-needed fresh funding while potentially increasing utilization of its expensive battery-swapping infrastructure by opening the network to Geely vehicles. For Geely, which sold 1.25 million vehicles in China during the first eight months of this year, the deal offers a shortcut into Nio’s established swapping technology and network, allowing the automaker to expand battery swapping for its own vehicles without having to build a competing system from the ground up.
