Beijing (ZXZC)- On June 24, Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO and FAW Group's premium passenger car brand Hongqi jointly announced a collaboration to integrate their charging networks. This marks the first project following the strategic partnership agreement between NIO and FAW Group, aimed at providing more convenient services for their users.

Photo credit: Hongqi

Last month, NIO and FAW Group signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. The two companies plan to collaborate extensively in the charging and battery swapping fields. This includes establishing battery technology standards, developing vehicles with swappable batteries, managing and operating battery assets, constructing and operating an integrated charging and battery swapping network, and strengthening procurement and supply chains in the battery industry. This partnership is expected to foster a long-term, stable strategic relationship.

As 2024 progresses, NIO is continuously expanding its energy replenishment network. In addition to partnering with FAW Group and Hongqi, NIO has also established strategic charging and battery swapping collaborations with other major Chinese automakers, including Changan Automobile, Geely Holding, Chery Automobile, JAC Group, Lotus, and GAC Group.

NIO has consistently invested in charging and battery swapping technology and product development. The company is actively building and deploying these facilities nationwide. In mid-June, NIO launched its first batch of fourth-generation battery swapping stations and 640kW liquid-cooled ultra-fast charging piles. These facilities are available for NIO users as well as partners in their strategic charging and battery swapping collaborations. The new battery swapping stations feature six ultra-wide-angle LiDAR sensors and four NVIDIA Orin X chips, providing a computing power of 1,016 TOPS, and support one-click automatic battery swapping and autonomous battery swapping.

As of June 24, NIO has constructed 2,435 battery swapping stations and 22,705 charging piles across China, including 804 expressway battery swapping stations and 1,666 expressway ultra-fast charging piles.