Main Chinese language battery producer CATL is reportedly in discussions to amass a controlling curiosity in Nio Energy, the electrical car maker’s subsidiary chargeable for its intensive battery-swapping community, in response to sources accustomed to the matter cited by Reuters.
This improvement follows CATL‘s announcement in March of a possible funding of as much as 2.5 billion yuan (342 million USD) into the unit.
Neither CATL nor Nio has formally confirmed talks relating to a controlling stake. CATL declined to touch upon the hypothesis, whereas Nio acknowledged it’s working ”with a number of buyers, together with CATL“ to collectively construct battery swapping stations and deepen their strategic partnership on capital and enterprise fronts to create the ”largest battery swapping community globally.“
Regardless of the shortage of affirmation, the potential deal holds strategic logic for each firms. Nio, whereas experiencing vital income development (65.73 billion yuan, or 9.04 billion USD in 2024, up 18.2% year-on-year), continues to face substantial monetary strain. The corporate reported a web lack of 22.66 billion yuan(3.11 billion USD) for 2024, a rise from the 21.15 billion yuan loss in 2023. Over the previous 5 years (2020-2024), Nio’s cumulative losses have reached roughly 74.55 billion yuan(10.28 billion USD).
A significant contributor to those losses is Nio‘s heavy funding in its signature battery-swapping infrastructure and vital R&D spending. Nio operates over 3,200 swap stations, primarily in China, permitting customers to change depleted batteries for totally charged ones shortly.
Nevertheless, constructing and sustaining this community is capital-intensive, with station prices starting from 1.5 million to three million yuan(207,725 USD to 415,450 USD) every, plus ongoing bills for batteries, upkeep, and website leases.
Promoting a controlling stake in Nio Energy might present Nio with a big capital injection and cut back the continuing monetary burden related to working and increasing the community, probably aiding its aim of reaching profitability within the fourth quarter of 2025.
For CATL, buying management of Nio Energy would symbolize a large acceleration of its personal battery-swapping ambitions. CATL established its swapping subsidiary, EVOGO, in 2021 and has dedicated vital assets to constructing out its ”Chocolate Battery Swap Ecosystem.“
Chairman Robin Zeng has acknowledged CATL goals for 1,000 swap stations by the top of 2025, 10,000 within the medium time period, and finally 30,000-40,000, predicting swapping will change into a significant charging methodology alongside residence and public charging by 2030. Taking management of Nio’s present community of over 3,200 stations would immediately make CATL the dominant participant within the passenger automobile battery-swapping market, leapfrogging its personal community building targets.
The businesses already collaborate, with Nio‘s upcoming Firefly model fashions set to make the most of CATL’s ”Chocolate“ battery swap customary and community, working alongside Nio‘s present system.
Whereas the talks for a controlling stake stay unverified, the underlying monetary pressures on Nio and the clear strategic advantages for CATL’s enlargement plans lend plausibility to the stories of deepening ties that might reshape China‘s EV infrastructure panorama.
