Shanghai (ZXZC)- Dongfeng Motor Corporation Passenger Vehicle Company (DFPV) and Aulton, a leading Chinese battery swapping technology provider, recently formed a strategic partnership for battery swapping model.

Under the agreement, the duo will jointly develop the vehicle model equipped with swappable batteries, namely the Dongfeng Fengshen E70, expecting to complete the first volume production in June 2021.

Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle, Aulton siging agreement; photo credit: Dongfeng Motor

In addition, both parties plan to carry out all-round collaboration on the promotion of a battery swapping model and the separating consumption of cars and batteries for commercially used vehicles.

The E70s will be first put into operation in Wuhan and Nanjing for ride-hailing service and later tap more cities in China.

Based on the newly-formed cooperation, Aulton is committed to correspondingly making a supporting business arrangement, according to Cai Dongqing, chairman of Aulton. The company has initiated the deployment of battery swapping service in Wuhan, and attempts to build 10 to 15 battery swapping stations this year to support the operation of the first vehicles carrying swappable batteries. It is also ambitious to launch one hundred battery swapping stations in the city over the next three years to provide battery swap service for more than 30,000 new energy vehicles.

Aulton has to-day had tie-ups with a host of mainstream Chinese automakers, such as BAIC Group, FAW Group, SAIC Motor, GAC Group, Changan Automobile and Dongfeng Motor for battery swapping business. Last month, it signed a MoU with SAIC PV for battery swapping service as well, and both companies celebrated the launch of the battery swappable Roewe Ei5, whose battery pack can be swapped within only 20 seconds at Aulton's battery swapping stations.