Produced by Leida Finance Text by Ding Yu Edited by Meng Shuai

NIO, which has invested over 20 billion yuan in its battery swapping business, has welcomed a new 'partner.' On September 28, NIO announced that it had reached a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Geely Holding Group in the field of battery charging and swapping.

According to the agreement reached by both parties, Geely Holding Group will acquire a stake in NIO Power by contributing 100% of the equity in YiYi Interconnection and 640 million yuan in cash.

After the transaction is completed, Geely Holding Group will hold a 30% stake in NIO Power. The battery swapping business for operational vehicles operated by YiYi Interconnection will be merged into NIO Power, and NIO Power's post-investment valuation will reach approximately 16 billion yuan.

In the field of intelligent charging, NIO will acquire a stake in Haohan Energy, a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group. After the transaction is completed, NIO will hold a 10% stake in Haohan Energy. Both parties will fully interconnect their charging resources to jointly enhance the coverage capacity and operational efficiency of the charging network.

Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, stated, 'Even though our two companies will have some competition, which is objective, healthy competition is not an internal rivalry. However, I believe the scope for cooperation is also very broad. We don't need to view them as opposites. Saying that there can be no cooperation when there is competition is not a good business logic.'

Geely and NIO Engage in 'Two-Way Collaboration,' with NIO Power Valued at 16 Billion Yuan

According to the announcement disclosed by NIO on September 28, it has entered into formal agreements with several subsidiaries of Geely Holding Group regarding strategic transactions in the battery swapping and charging businesses.

Under the agreement, a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group will acquire newly issued equity in NIO Power Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'NIO Power') by contributing 100% of the equity in YiYi Interconnection Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'YiYi Interconnection') and 640 million yuan in cash as consideration.

It is reported that YiYi Interconnection is a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group that provides battery swapping services for the operational vehicle market, while NIO Power is a subsidiary of NIO that operates battery swapping and charging businesses.

According to the plan, after the battery swapping business for operational vehicles operated by YiYi Interconnection is merged into NIO Power, both parties will jointly establish unified C-end battery swapping technology and standards. Geely Holding Group will develop battery swapping models for the C-end market, and NIO Power will provide services for Geely Holding Group's C-end battery swapping models.

After the transaction is completed, the equity structure of NIO Power will change. The Geely subsidiary will hold a 30% stake, NIO's subsidiary NIO Holding Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'NIO China') will continue to hold a 63.6% controlling stake, and Wuhan Guangchuang Xinxing Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) will hold the remaining 6.4% stake. The transaction values NIO Power at approximately 16 billion yuan post-investment.

It is worth mentioning that the equity held by the Geely subsidiary will not be locked in all at once but will be adjusted after delivery based on certain operational milestones. If the relevant business performance does not meet expectations, the equity may be adjusted down to no less than 20%.

The subsidiary is also granted an option to make an additional 640 million yuan cash investment in NIO Power within two years from the transaction's closing date or before the date NIO Power enters into a binding agreement for a new round of financing, whichever is earlier. Without considering any post-closing equity adjustments, this will result in the Geely subsidiary holding a 34% stake in NIO Power, while NIO China's controlling stake will be 60%.

Simultaneously with the NIO Power transaction, NIO China has agreed to acquire newly issued equity in Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'Haohan Energy') for a cash consideration, which will be used to purchase certain charging assets from NIO. After the transaction is completed, NIO China will hold a 10% stake in the total equity of Haohan Energy.

Currently, Haohan Energy, a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group, has deployed 2,500 charging stations and over 12,000 charging guns in 232 cities across China, firmly positioning itself in the first tier of the industry.

By the end of 2027, Geely plans to have built over 22,000 charging stations and over 100,000 charging guns, including over 15,000 Geely Smart Charging Stations and over 50,000 smart charging guns, taking the lead in achieving comprehensive coverage of county-level cities nationwide.

In addition, NIO and Geely Holding Group have formulated preliminary plans for adopting battery swapping technology and providing related services for consumer-oriented models and mobility service vehicles under the affiliated entities of Geely Holding Group. These plans are subject to further discussions among the relevant parties before they can be finalized and implemented.

NIO believes that the aforementioned transactions and cooperation reflect industry recognition of NIO's battery swapping technology, network, and operational capabilities. Through strategic cooperation with industry participants, NIO expects to further promote the popularization of battery swapping, continuously enhance user experience, accelerate the growth of EV penetration, and further unlock the long-term value of battery swapping.

Geely Makes Indirect Move into C-End Battery Swapping After Years of Deep Involvement in Operational Vehicle Battery Swapping

Leida Finance found that there had already been cooperation between Geely and NIO before this transaction. As early as November 2023, Geely Holding Group signed a battery swapping strategic cooperation agreement with NIO in Hangzhou.

It is reported that both parties planned to conduct comprehensive cooperation in multiple areas, including battery swapping standards, battery swapping technology, construction and operation of battery swapping service networks, research and development and customization of battery swapping models, and battery asset management and operation.

Prior to this, NIO had already become the largest operator of EV battery swapping stations in China, but its services were limited to users of its own brand.

YiYi Interconnection, a subsidiary of Geely, mainly serves the battery swapping market for operational vehicles, covering various Geely-affiliated battery swapping models such as Cao Cao, Maple, and Ray.

According to Tianyancha, YiYi Interconnection Technology Co., Ltd., the operating entity of YiYi Interconnection, was registered and established in April 2016. In January 2017, the company formed a team to officially conduct pre-research on battery swapping technology.

Relying on Geely's positively developed GBRC battery swapping platform architecture, YiYi Interconnection is committed to providing more cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly comprehensive solutions for the operational market based on battery sharing and vehicle lifecycle operation.

As of April 2025, YiYi Interconnection has deployed and operated over 470 battery swapping stations, covering more than 40 cities, including Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Tianjin. By 2027, YiYi Interconnection plans to build and operate 2,000 battery swapping stations nationwide.

However, some Point of view (translated as 'opinions' or 'perspectives' in English, but kept as ' Point of view ' here for contextual flow in the translation summary) believe that the growth ceiling for the battery swapping market for operational vehicles is quite evident. The demand for battery swapping is constrained by the scale and growth rate of the ride-hailing and taxi industries, and it is difficult to support the continuous expansion of the battery swapping network solely relying on Geely's own operational vehicles.

Taking Cao Cao Mobility, an important customer of YiYi Interconnection and a mobility platform under Geely, as an example, from 2023 to 2025, Cao Cao Mobility's revenue maintained a growth rate of around 40%, with the company's revenue exceeding 20 billion yuan last year.

However, in the first half of this year, Cao Cao Mobility's revenue growth rate slowed down to single digits, increasing by 9.35% year-on-year to 10.34 billion yuan.

In terms of profit, Cao Cao Mobility has been mired in losses for a long time. From 2021 to the first half of 2026, Cao Cao Mobility's cumulative net profit loss over five and a half years exceeded 9.1 billion yuan.

Against this backdrop, the comprehensive strategic cooperation reached by NIO and Geely Holding Group in the field of battery charging and swapping may usher in a win-win situation.

Li Bin stated that this cooperation would integrate the resources and capabilities accumulated by both parties in the field of battery charging and swapping through in-depth collaboration at the technical, standard, operational, asset, and capital levels.

In the view of An Conghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group, this cooperation is a pragmatic measure taken by both parties to practice the high-quality development of China's intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry.

After Investing 20 Billion Yuan in Battery Swapping, Has NIO Power Become 'Lighter'?

In fact, NIO can be considered the absolute leader in China's private vehicle battery swapping network, and the battery swapping business has become one of its distinctive labels and core competitiveness.

According to NIO's official website, as of September 29, the company has deployed 4,136 battery swapping stations and accumulated over 120 million battery swaps. At the same time, the company also has over 30,000 NIO charging piles and has access to nearly 1.78 million third-party charging piles.

The comprehensive strategic cooperation reached by NIO and Geely in the field of battery charging and swapping will further accelerate the construction of NIO's battery swapping network. NIO Power plans to have built a cumulative total of 10,000 battery swapping stations by 2030, and it is estimated that the annual power demand of NIO's battery swapping network will exceed 10 billion kWh by then.

Data shows that the construction cost of NIO's first-generation battery swapping station is approximately 2.5 to 3 million yuan, the second-generation station is about 2 million yuan, and the third-generation station is around 1.5 million yuan.

According to NIO, as of now, the company has invested over 20 billion yuan in the field of battery charging and swapping technology and infrastructure. To alleviate the high upfront investment, NIO also canceled its lifetime free battery swapping service in 2023.

Shen Fei, senior vice president of NIO, also revealed that the breakeven point for NIO's battery swapping stations is around 50-60 swaps per day, and more automotive brands need to join to reduce losses.

Leida Finance learned that since opening up its battery swapping system to external parties in 2023, in addition to Geely, automakers such as GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Chery Automobile, JAC Group, Lotus, and China FAW Group have successively joined NIO's battery swapping alliance.

In Li Bin's view, battery swapping is NIO's moat. As the battery swapping station network expands and more peers join, this moat will become deeper and deeper.

Li Bin also emphasized that from the first day of engaging in battery swapping, NIO decided to open it up 100% to external parties. NIO's opening up of battery swapping is not for cost reduction but for long-term revenue and resource conservation.

In addition to expanding its 'battery swapping circle of friends,' NIO is also actively exploring more operational models. In August 2024, NIO launched the 'Power Partner' program, initiating a cooperation model with local state-owned assets.

In the same year, NIO Power received 1.5 billion yuan in strategic investment from institutions such as Wuhan Guangchuang Xinxing Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership).

In August this year, NIO Power and Wuhan Optics Valley Transportation Group completed the asset transfer of the first batch of 36 cooperative battery charging and swapping stations in Wuhan. As a result, all existing battery swapping station assets of NIO Power within Wuhan are now fully owned by state-owned assets, while daily operation and maintenance and network scheduling are still handled by NIO Power.

NIO Power stated that this delivery marks the successful practice of the 'state-owned assets holding + NIO professional operation' model in the Hubei region, and this model is gradually being rolled out nationwide.

Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of the North China University of Technology, believes that the core of this model lies in 'asset off-balance-sheet + operation retention.' By transferring the ownership of heavy assets, NIO has successfully transformed from a traditional 'landlord' to a 'property plus technology service provider,' effectively alleviating its long-standing financial pressure. Meanwhile, local state-owned assets seize the opportunity to enter the new infrastructure track of new energy infrastructure, achieving a win-win situation in industrial layout and asset appreciation.