Author｜Ren Tianqin

Editor｜Chen Xiaoran

Cross-Shareholding

On September 28, NIO (9866.HK) and Geely Holding Group unveiled a comprehensive strategic partnership in the battery swap and charging sectors.

Geely Holding Group is set to acquire a 100% stake in YiYi Interconnect and inject RMB 640 million in cash into NIO Power. Meanwhile, NIO plans to acquire a 10% stake in Haohan Energy.

The two entities will also collaborate on establishing battery swap standards and fostering the interconnection of charging resources. While equity and asset arrangements have been finalized, the seamless integration of the networks hinges on subsequent delivery and operational execution.

Capital Moves

This partnership transcends a mere framework agreement, encompassing equity, cash, and business assets. According to disclosures, Geely Holding Group will secure newly issued equity in NIO Power through its 100% acquisition of YiYi Interconnect and a RMB 640 million cash infusion.

Upon completion of the transaction, Geely will hold a 30% stake, NIO China will retain a 63.6% stake, and Wuhan Guangchuang Xinxing Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund will own a 6.4% stake. NIO Power's post-investment valuation stands at approximately RMB 16 billion. The transaction remains contingent upon regulatory approval and the fulfillment of closing conditions.

YiYi Interconnect's battery swap operations for commercial vehicles will be integrated into NIO Power. For NIO, this signifies an expansion of its service reach into operational scenarios such as ride-hailing and taxi services. Commercial vehicles boast high utilization rates, potentially driving increased orders for the battery swap network. However, the improvement in site utilization hinges on vehicle scale, site layout, and operational efficiency.

For Geely, this deal enables participation in NIO Power's future development and paves the way for its commercial vehicles' battery swap business to access a broader network. There are also indications that Geely's shareholding ratio is tied to operational milestones and includes an option for additional investment. The specific terms should be referenced from the formal transaction documents.

Equity arrangements also extend to the charging business. NIO China intends to acquire newly issued equity in Haohan Energy with cash, holding a 10% stake post-transaction. The funds will be utilized by Haohan Energy to purchase certain charging assets from NIO. Haohan Energy has already deployed 2,500 charging stations and over 12,000 charging guns across 232 cities nationwide, positioning it as a leading player in the industry.

Both parties have expressed their commitment to promoting the interconnection of charging resources. The specifics of how sites, platforms, and services will be interconnected require subsequent implementation, and "interconnection" should not be misconstrued as the networks having already merged.

According to NIO's official Weibo account, as of September 27, NIO has established 9,433 battery swap and charging stations nationwide, including 4,126 battery swap stations, 5,307 charging stations, and 30,598 charging guns, cumulatively providing over 120 million battery swaps. It has invested over RMB 20 billion in battery swap and charging technologies and infrastructure.

NIO Power aims to have built 10,000 battery swap stations by 2030, with an estimated annual network electricity consumption exceeding 10 billion kWh.

Geely plans to have constructed over 22,000 charging stations and over 100,000 charging guns by the end of 2027, including over 15,000 smart charging stations and over 50,000 smart charging guns.

Scenario Synergy

NIO has been operating a battery swap network for several years, and its charging facilities are also accessible to other brands.

William Li stated in a group interview that over 85% of the electricity consumed at NIO's charging stations comes from users of non-NIO brands. He believes that while automakers compete, they can still collaborate on infrastructure. The rationale is straightforward: once a site is established, the more vehicles that utilize it, the greater the value it delivers.

YiYi Interconnect primarily caters to commercial vehicles, and the scale of battery swap models in Geely's Cao Cao Mobility is rapidly expanding.

As of the end of June 2026, Cao Cao Mobility operated over 42,000 custom battery swap vehicles. Its in-house Robotaxi model, Eva Cab, currently under development, is slated for mass production in 2027, with a cumulative deployment target of 100,000 units by 2030.

Commercial vehicles travel frequently and necessitate regular energy replenishment, theoretically generating relatively stable demand. NIO Power, on the other hand, boasts a network scale and operational experience with over 4,000 battery swap stations. Effective collaboration between the two parties could potentially increase site orders and share operational costs.

However, it is noteworthy that YiYi Interconnect's 470 battery swap stations as of April 2025 are approximately 8.8 times fewer than NIO's 4,126 stations. The operational synergy post-integration should not be underestimated.

Nevertheless, the operational rhythms of the two business types differ. Commercial vehicles require frequent battery swaps, imposing higher demands on battery turnover and scheduling. In contrast, the usage patterns of family cars are more dispersed. Coordinating site arrangements, battery management, and service connections is essential. Therefore, asset merger does not immediately translate into improved operational efficiency.

Both parties propose to jointly establish unified C-end battery swap technologies and standards. According to the cooperation arrangements, Geely will develop battery swap models for individual users, with NIO Power providing services for these models.

If the models, battery packs, locking mechanisms, and communication protocols are ultimately compatible, Geely can leverage the existing network and avoid starting from scratch. NIO will have the opportunity to expand the network's service targets.

Numerous details remain to be verified in this process, such as how the standards will be applied to the models, the duration of adaptation, and which battery swap stations can provide services. All these depend on subsequent progress. The agreement has set the cooperation direction, but what truly impacts the user experience is whether the model launches and site compatibility can keep pace.

In terms of charging, Geely unveiled its new-generation "Geely Smart Charging" on September 23, relying on the Xingrui PowerMind energy big model. It announced a single-gun peak power of 2,250 kW and introduced temperature control and battery health management capabilities.

Peak power represents the equipment's capacity limit and does not imply that vehicles will consistently reach this value during charging.

The actual charging speed also depends on the model, battery status, temperature, and the power supply conditions at the station. The indicators disclosed by Geely, such as improved battery cycle life, also require evaluation based on specific models and long-term usage performance.

Success Depends on Operations

The competition in energy replenishment networks is evolving from station count to coverage, equipment efficiency, and operational capabilities. Fast charging and battery swapping will coexist for the foreseeable future, and automakers' self-built networks demand substantial investment, with site utilization influencing cost recovery.

NIO's battery swap network represents a typical heavy-asset investment. As of the end of August 2026, the total number of charging infrastructure units in China had reached 24.223 million, with 5.16 million public charging piles.

NIO and Geely's cooperation aims to integrate existing networks, commercial vehicle scenarios, and capital arrangements into a unified cooperation framework. Whether it can achieve higher utilization rates remains contingent upon subsequent operational data.

Policies are also shaping the direction of infrastructure construction. The "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry" proposes that by 2030, the total number of charging infrastructure units will exceed 40 million, with about 300,000 high-power charging facilities, forming a charging service capacity supporting over 110 million electric vehicles. It explicitly promotes full coverage of public charging facilities in rural areas.

NIO aims to have built 10,000 battery swap stations by 2030 and estimates that the network's annual electricity consumption will exceed 10 billion kWh by then.

With the expansion of site scale, energy storage and load regulation may emerge as new business directions. However, participating in power trading, peak shaving, or consuming green electricity also requires grid coordination and clear revenue mechanisms. Profitability cannot be inferred solely based on electricity consumption.

Several practical hurdles must be overcome for the cooperation to proceed smoothly: the transaction is still pending approval and closing; battery swap standards require research and testing; the operational teams, customer systems, and service processes of the two companies need coordination; and the interconnection of charging resources also involves assets, platforms, and service rules.

Meanwhile, other companies continue to invest in the battery swap and ultra-fast charging sectors, and the cooperation will not halt market competition.

For NIO, the next step is to determine whether its energy business can enhance operational efficiency with more users and scenarios. For Geely, it is to assess whether the battery swap experience in commercial vehicles can be extended to passenger car products and truly leverage NIO's network.

It should be emphasized that the agreement provides a cooperation direction, but the ultimate effectiveness will be tested by the progress of the transaction, model adaptation, and site operations.