FAW Group becomes the seventh to join the Nio-led battery swap alliance after GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Geely Holding, Chery, JAC and Lotus.

State-owned auto giant China FAW Group has tied up with Nio (NYSE: NIO) for battery swap services, becoming the latest to join the latter's battery swap alliance.

Nio and FAW signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on May 21 at the Jilin and Anhui cooperation and development seminar, according to a statement from the electric vehicle (EV) maker today.

FAW is headquartered in Changchun, Jilin, in northeast China, while Nio's global headquarters is in Shanghai and its Chinese headquarters and two factories are in Hefei, Anhui province.

The two companies will establish a long-term, stable strategic partnership in areas including the establishment of battery technology standards, the development of battery swap-enabled models, battery asset management and operation, the construction and operation of charging and battery swap networks, and procurement related to the battery industry, according to Nio's statement.

Separately, FAW said in its statement that it signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement with Nio on May 21 as part of a partnership between the provinces of Jilin and Anhui.

Li said the strategic cooperation will further promote the standardization of battery swap technology, the universal use of battery swap model, and the scaling of battery swap network to address users' mileage anxiety, according to the statement from FAW.

FAW and Nio will cooperate in areas including battery technology standards, research and development of battery swap-enabled models, battery asset management and operation, charging and battery swap network construction and operation, and procurement related to the battery industry, according to the statement.

The cooperation was already reported by local media last week. FAW becomes the seventh to join the Nio-led battery swap alliance after Changan Automobile, Geely Holding, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC), Chery, Lotus, and GAC Group.

Li confirmed the partnership in a video posted on short-video platform Douyin, China's version of TikTok, last night.

"I'm at an airport in Changchun, and today FAW and Nio entered into a full strategic partnership on charging and battery swap," Li said in the short video.

Nio views its battery swap service as similar to a cloud service, and Li mentioned several times that the service has reached a point where it can be opened up to partners.

As of May 21, Nio had 2,420 battery swap stations in China, 800 of which are located along highways, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

FAW, one of the country's largest car companies, has also dabbled in battery swap-enabled models in its product array, albeit mainly for the ride hailing market.

In November 2021, FAW's Hongqi brand delivered 100 Hongqi E-QM5 cars, the brand's first battery swap-enabled model, to cab industry partners in Changchun.

In addition to confirming the partnership with FAW on battery swap, Li mentioned in his short video yesterday that he would be taking a flight from Changchun to Beijing and will be departing from Beijing for Frankfurt, Germany at 2:30 am on May 22 Beijing Time.

“Tomorrow Qin Lihong and I will drive together from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to witness the opening of our new Nio House in Amsterdam,” Li said.

Qin is co-founder and president of Nio.

He said he will demonstrate Nio's battery swap service in Europe via live video streaming starting around 3 pm Beijing Time on May 22.

Nio's swap stations along highways reach 800, 1/3 support swap on pilot