Xpeng has been expanding its network of supercharging stations, and it has no information related to battery swap, at least for the currently planned models, it said.

(Image credit: Xpeng)

Information on the scope of business of a recently formed subsidiary of Xpeng has sparked speculation that it may be getting into the battery swap business, but this has been denied by the electric vehicle maker.

Xpeng, which has been expanding its network of supercharging stations, has no information related to battery swap, at least for the models currently planned, local media Caijing said Wednesday, citing an unnamed source at the company.

"The company's priority at the moment is to roll out more quality self-operated supercharging stations to narrow the service radius and improve service quality," the source said.

A company called Shanghai Pengxu Auto Sales & Service Co was set up on February 15, and it has a registered capital of RMB 5 million and is wholly owned by Xpeng Auto Sales Co.

Its scope of business includes not only sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) but also battery swap facilities, sparking speculation that the carmaker could become another company to get involved in the field after battery giant CATL.

It is worth noting that this is not the first Xpeng subsidiary to include battery swap facility sales in its scope of operations.

Two companies formed in December 2020 and another in March 2021, all of which are wholly owned by Xpeng, include battery swap facility sales in their scope of operations.

Xpeng has attracted attention for its latest move probably because its supplier CATL unveiled its battery swap brand EVOGO a month ago, which is expected to be aimed not only at the cab market but also at the general consumer.

Previously, Xpeng's local counterpart Nio was the only carmaker to offer battery swap-enabled models for the general consumer.

After CATL announced the move, Nio welcomed it as an endorsement of the business model.

Nio has been almost alone for six years in its strategy of separating the vehicle body from the battery and allowing battery rentals, said Shen Fei, the company's vice president, on Weibo last month, adding that the strategy has gained not only more attention and recognition but fellow travelers.

Back to Xpeng, in addition to recent rumors that it may be getting into the battery swap business, the high pay of its vice chairman and president Brian Gu has been the focus of local media attention.

Recently it was reported that Gu's annual salary was as high as RMB 435 million, ranking first on the list of executive salaries of listed technology companies.

Xpeng said yesterday that this was a misinterpretation, treating the value of Gu's shareholdings as an annual salary.

More than 99.5 percent of the salary made public is equity incentives accumulated over the years and as the company's valuation has increased tremendously since its IPO, the value of Gu's equity holdings rose and his actual annual salary was about over RMB 2 million, several local media quoted Xpeng as saying.