Nio and Geely Holding Group announced a sweeping expansion of their charging and battery-swap partnership on September 28, agreeing to cooperate across technology, operations and capital. Under the deal, Geely will inject its Yiyi Interconnect subsidiary and 640 million yuan (about $90.1 million) in cash into Nio Energy, taking a 30% stake, while Nio will acquire a 10% stake in Geely's Haohan Energy. The two companies will also share charging resources and jointly develop unified battery-swap technology and standards for private cars, according to Sina Auto.
Nio founder and CEO William Li said the rationale for starting with charging infrastructure was simple: "In charging and battery swapping, it's particularly easy for us to calculate the numbers." The cooperation was first discussed in November 2023 and has now expanded from network interoperability to equity and business integration.
Nio has invested heavily in its charging and battery-swap infrastructure. As of September 27, cumulative investment exceeded 20 billion yuan (about $2.8 billion), with 4,126 battery-swap stations and 5,307 charging stations built nationwide, and more than 125 million battery-swap services delivered. Geely's Haohan Energy operates 2,500 charging stations with over 12,000 charging guns across 232 cities, and plans to expand to more than 22,000 stations and 100,000 guns by the end of 2027.
Two networks, one operator
After the transaction closes, Nio Energy will operate two parallel networks: a B2B network built on Yiyi Interconnect serving ride-hailing fleets such as Cao Cao Mobility and future robotaxis, and a consumer-facing network for private car owners. Geely is developing battery-swap-capable models for the private market, which Nio Energy will service, and is also incorporating battery-swap technology into its robotaxi development.
Geely Holding CEO An Conghui acknowledged that charging infrastructure is "indeed a heavy-asset business," and said the partnership is aimed at reducing risk and scaling up faster. He stressed that automakers cannot simply deliver a car and forget about the ownership experience. William Li added that the companies had each validated their own technology routes and now need to cut redundant investment and improve operational efficiency.
Nio's charging piles are already open to all brands, with 87% to 88% of charging volume coming from non-Nio users, Li said. The equity tie-up could extend that service relationship into joint investment and operation.
Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong estimated that with a high-quality battery-swap network, a commercial vehicle could save up to 90 minutes of charging time per day, potentially lifting operating income by 15% to 20%, and that full-lifecycle costs could be cut by up to 40% when combined with battery leasing. He cautioned that these are operational targets, not guaranteed results, and that actual income depends on whether saved time translates into more orders.
Power trading ambitions
Li also outlined longer-term plans for the battery-swap network to participate in electricity markets. Nio Energy aims to have 10,000 battery-swap stations built and operating by 2030, with annual electricity demand exceeding 10 billion kWh at that scale. Li estimated the network would correspond to roughly 20 GWh of energy storage capacity, and said he wants to "fully validate the attributes of energy trading and the business model of an electricity trading carrier" together with Geely's AI-powered smart charging.
The two companies plan to build power infrastructure at suitable sites that can serve consumer battery-swap stations, the B2B swap network and Geely's AI smart charging, sharing underlying facilities to reduce individual investment. Geely Auto CEO Gan Jiayue cited energy storage cabinets as one example where battery-swap infrastructure and batteries could save resources.
Li said the first priority after the deal closes will be efficiently operating the two networks simultaneously, with integration work needed across research and development, supply chain, manufacturing and operations. For car owners, he said, the changes will ultimately show up in everyday charging: whether nearby stations increase, waiting times shrink, and battery swapping becomes more convenient.
