Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese battery swapping technology developer Aulton said the battery swapping stations it built in partnership with the state-owned oil giant Sinopec were officially launched in both Shanghai and Chongqing on July 20, marking their cooperation has gone into the fast lane in terms of commercial operation.

Photo credit: Aulton

The launch of the new stations came after both parties entered into a strategic partnership on April 15. The two companies agreed to deploy battery swapping facilities within Sinopec's 30,000 gas stations, aiming to quicken the construction of Aulton's nationwide city-level battery swapping service network.

Aulton has formed partnerships with 14 OEMs in China, including FAW Group, BAIC Group, SAIC Motor, Changan Automobile, and Dongfeng Motor, the company's chairman Cai Dongqing said at an industrial seminar in May. He added that Aulton plans to build more than 10,000 battery swapping stations and a battery swapping platform capable of serving over 10 million new energy vehicles (NEVs) under diverse brands by 2025.

Regarding the deployment plan set for Shanghai and Chongqing, Aulton expects to see 50 and 60 battery swapping stations deployed in Shanghai and Chongqing respectively by the end of 2021. The numbers are set to grow to 300 in Shanghai and 200 in Chongqing by 2023.