- Chinese battery giant CATL and Sinopec have agreed to collaborate on a mass installation of EV battery swapping stations across China, in what the two groups say will break through the ‘range bottleneck’ for long-distance EV journeys.
- At least 500 battery swapping stations will be created this year, while up to 10,000 such stations are set to be constructed in the longer term.
- The new network of swapping stations is designed to be both standardized and scalable.
China goes all in on battery swapping
The two firms will both bring separate expertise to the table to achieve this ambitious goal. CATL will provide its EV battery and battery swapping knowledge, whilst Sinopec’s ability to roll out significant infrastructure, such as its existing nationwide petrol station network, will be translated into rolling out battery swapping stations across the country.
These battery swapping stations will use a standardized protocol, allowing any brand of compatible EV to utilise the stations. Specifically, stations set up for passenger electric cars will be based on CATL’s Choco-Swap solution, which has already debuted on Chinese EVs such as the Changan Oshan 520. For the heavy-duty vehicle battery swapping stations that will also materialise from this agreement, CATL’s QIJI Energy standard will be used.
Just last month, CATL and Chinese OEM NIO signed a strategic partnership to work together on battery swapping. Now, fresh reports from Reuters suggest that CATL is in talks to purchase the EV maker’s battery swapping arm, which already operates over 3,000 battery swapping stations across China. This move further highlights CATL’s belief that battery swapping will play a key part in the future of electric vehicles, alongside more conventional recharging methods. Outside of China however, battery swapping stations still only exist in very small numbers.
Yang Jun, CEO of CATL’s battery swapping arm, CAES, commented:
“The trend toward full electrification in the automotive industry is becoming increasingly clear, and the market is calling for a more complete energy supply network. CATL hopes to make battery swap as convenient as refueling through this cooperation with Sinopec, a mission and vision shared by battery swap players.”
