Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese startup NIO signed an agreement earlier this week with Guangdong Top-E Expressway Service Zone Company Limited (Guangdong Top-E) as part of efforts to expand its battery swapping network for highways.

NIO Power Swap Station 2.0; photo credit: NIO

Guangzhou Top-E is a Guangdong-based company focusing on serving highway rest stops. Its majority shareholder is Guangdong Yueyun Transportation Company Limited, whose 74.12% stake is held by the state-owned Guangdong Provincial Communication Group, according to the business data platform Tianyancha.

Under the agreement, both parties will carry out in-depth cooperation on the deployment of resource channels, energy supply network, and the services for highway rest areas.

Through the partnership, a total of 28 NIO's second-generation battery swap stations are scheduled to start operation at Guangdong’s highway service plazas by the end of 2022.

A NIO Power Swap Station 2.0 is equipped with 14 battery slots - 13 battery packs and an empty slot, and now enables 312 battery swaps per day. It allows cars to automatically park themselves inside the station.

As of Nov. 22, 2021, NIO had deployed a total of 636 battery swap stations across China, 130 of which are launched for highways. Its energy supply network had also included 483 supercharging stations and 579 destination charging stations, and had access to over 430,000 third-party charging piles.