- CATL and Nio have signed an agreement to support each other by establishing a nationwide battery-swapping network in China that use both Nio's swap tech and CATL's Choco-swap technology.
- CATL's Choco-swap offers batteries for subcompact to midsized cars ranging from 42 kWh to 70 kWh.
- The Nio Firefly EV will be one of the first cars to use the shared network and technology.
I’ve already experienced Nio’s battery swap ecosystem. Used on both the full line of Nio vehicles and the Onvo L60, this battery swap scheme promises to lower the cost of entry for EVs while shortening the time to get a full charge to as little as 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Yet, it was clear to me that while Nio's bet on the technology was working, the whole ecosystem was limited to only its vehicles.
Until now.
One of the largest battery manufacturers, CATL, has united with Nio to deploy battery-swapping technology. This isn’t the first collaboration with Nio’s battery-swapping tech. Chery and Geely both have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with Nio, so that's nothing new. Battery swapping also isn’t that uncommon, Beijing-branded (BAIC) cabs with swappable batteries are fairly common in big Chinese cities. CATL and Nio’s tie-up is so important because it marks Nio’s collaboration with CATL’s Choco-swap battery idea.
Choco-swap is CATL’s goal of creating a platform-agonistic swap infrastructure for subcompact to midsized cars. The batteries could be lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) or nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), with sizes ranging from 42 to 70 kWh. Currently, there are a few cars rumored to accept the Choco-swap battery equipment, and it looks like Nio’s premium small EV sub-brand Firefly will be one of the first to market to use the tech. CATL will support Nio in developing the swap network, while the Choco-swap standards will be used on Nio’s Firefly models. It’s not clear exactly how it will work in practice, but Nio and CATL say that “[t]he networks of both parties will operate in parallel, offering EV users a more seamless and efficient swapping experience, thus making BEV travel more convenient.”
That’s a big deal. A lack of battery standardization is the enemy of swapping. In the rest of the world, every manufacturer uses their own shape, chemistry and capacity, which would make swapping a logistical nightmare. Many cars literally have the battery pack integrated into the vehicle’s structure, making swapping nigh on impossible.
CATL and Nio say the goal is to continue to work together to create a standard and national infrastructure. This goes beyond just the swap stations themselves, but the whole back-end logistics of battery management, recycling and upgrading. The two call the scheme “Chargeable, Swappable, Upgradeable.” Soon, there could be a whole ecosystem of cheap cars that can be swapped in a few minutes.
Of course, there are some downsides to swapping versus charging. I’ve explained before that sticking with a standardized battery does lock some manufacturers into specific design decisions they can’t change, since they must accommodate the battery and swap equipment. However, I think the convenience of swapping, the piece of mind that comes with the ability to easily remove and exchange the battery and the potential of upgrading the battery with new and better tech will be well worth it to EV buyers.
Contact the author: Kevin.Williams@InsideEVs.com
