(Yicai) Sept. 28 -- Chinese automotive giant Geely Holding Group and electric vehicle manufacturer Nio will deepen their strategic cooperation on battery swapping and EV charging through a cross-shareholding arrangement at the subsidiary level, aimed at accelerating the expansion of their battery-swap and charging service networks.

Geely will use its 100 percent equity in its battery-swap service provider Yiyi Internet Technology and CNY640 million (USD95.3 million) in cash to subscribe to newly issued shares in Nio’s battery-swap and charging unit Nio Power, Shanghai-based Nio said today. Upon completion of the transaction, Geely will hold a 30 percent stake in Nio Power, which will have a post-investment valuation of CNY16 billion (USD2.4 billion).

Nio was one of the earliest Chinese EV manufacturers to adopt battery swapping and set up Nio Power in 2017 to develop and run a battery-swap and charging service network. As of Sept. 20, Nio operated 4,099 battery-swap stations and 5,289 charging stations, and had provided users with over 120 million battery swaps in total, it said.

Yiyi, founded in 2017, managed more than 470 battery-swap stations in over 40 cities across China as of April last year, and has plans to expand to 2,000 stations by next year, according to its website.

The integration of Yiyi into Nio Power will accelerate the expansion of Nio's battery swapping network, with the aim of building 10,000 battery-swap stations by 2030, Nio said. The two sides will also work together to establish unified battery-swapping technology standards, while Hangzhou-based Geely will develop battery-swap vehicles models for consumers.

Nio will also acquire a stake in Geely’s EV charging service provider Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology, according to the agreement between the two parties. Upon completion of the transaction, Nio will hold a 10 percent stake in Haohan, and both sides will share resources to expand charging network coverage and improve operational efficiency.

Haohan currently operates 2,500 charging stations and 12,000 charging guns in 232 cities across China. By the end of 2027, it plans to expand its network to 22,000 charging stations and 100,000 charging guns, Geely said.

The collaboration between Nio and Geely dates back to November 2023, when Nio announced plans to form a battery swapping alliance with automakers. Since then, it has established partnerships with eight automakers, including Changan Automobile and Geely.

Editor: Kim Taylor