The institute aims to build a power battery recycling system and conduct research related to battery materials.

(Photo source: Nio)

Wuhan Weineng, the operator of Nio's battery assets, plans to invest about 100 million yuan ($15.5 million) to build a technology institute for the full battery cycle in Wuhan, said Lu Ronghua, the company's general manager.

Lu said at a carbon-neutral related event in Wuhan that the institute aims to build a power battery recycling system, improve battery material-related property evaluation and comprehensive technical capabilities for battery environmental reliability verification, according to a local government release Sunday.

Weineng was established on August 18, 2020, with joint investment from Nio, CATL, Guotai Junan International and Hubei Science Technology Investment.

Weineng's legal representative and chairman is Shen Fei, vice president of Nio Power.

Last August, Nio launched its BaaS (Battery as a Service) battery rental business and Weineng is the manager of the battery assets.

The BaaS business allows users to purchase Nio vehicles without buying a battery, thus reducing the cost of the vehicle at the time of purchase by at least RMB 70,000.

On August 16, an announcement from Shangdong Weida Group, one of Weineng's shareholders, stated that Weinen plans to launch a Series B round of financing, with an overall valuation of RMB 2.5 billion before this financing.

After the completion of this financing, Weineng will have an additional registered capital of RMB 321 million, and the registered capital will increase from RMB 1.512 billion to RMB 1.833 billion.

Nio will become the largest shareholder of Weineng, accounting for 19.84% of the registered capital. Previously Nio, along with Guotai Junan International, Hubei Science Technology Investment Group Co and CATL, all held 13.32% of the shares.