(Yicai Global) Nov. 27 -- Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor has followed Nio to test an electric vehicle battery swap business idea that could lower drivers' costs.

A unit of Dongfeng penned agreements with a subsidiary of the State Grid to cooperate on battery-as-a-service, and vehicle-to-grid models, the Wuhan-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

A rival has been working on the idea for some time. In August, Nio formed a joint venture with battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, among others, so that car buyers could pay CNY70,000 (USD10,640) less for a vehicle and instead pay CNY980 (USD149) a month for a 70 kilowatt-hours battery.

Allowing car buyers to rent power units instead of purchasing them will lower the costs and protect them against battery impairment, said Tan Minqiang, director of Dongfeng's technical center.

The separation of batteries and cars comes with another benefit. The emerging V2G model allows electric vehicle owners to sell the energy that their batteries store back to the grid while charging to make sure the supply is stable, particularly in areas that use solar or wind power.

Since April, Dongfeng Motor has intensified its digital innovation push. It teamed with China COSCO Shipping and China Mobile to debut a driverless truck system, enabled by fifth-generation wireless networks. It also partnered with Siemens Digital Industries Software to advance digital transformation.

Editor: Emmi Laine