On March 22, Zhong'an Energy (Anhui) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhong'an Energy") and Wuhan NIO Energy Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "NIO Energy") signed a cooperation agreement in Hefei, Anhui.
According to this agreement, the two parties will carry out all-round and multi-level in-depth strategic cooperation in areas such as battery standards, battery swapping and charging technology, construction and operation of battery swapping and charging networks, battery asset management and operation, cooperation in new power systems, and related supply chain cooperation for the production and manufacturing of battery swapping and charging equipment, to jointly promote the high-quality development of China's new energy vehicle industry.
According to the information, on January 11 this year, with the strong support of the Anhui Provincial Government, Zhong'an Energy was unveiled and is mainly responsible for promoting the "one network" of unified battery swapping and charging services across the entire province of Anhui, and building an open and shared new energy vehicle battery swapping and charging network. On the same day, Anhui Energy Group, Anhui Jiaokong Group and NIO reached a strategic cooperation to support the newly established Zhong'an Energy in building 1,000 integrated battery swapping and charging stations.
NIO stated that Zhong'an Energy and NIO Energy jointly signed this cooperation agreement to undertake the work of jointly promoting the construction of the battery swapping and charging system and the battery asset management system. This signing is a further advancement of the cooperation between the two parties after the establishment of Zhong'an Energy.
In the future, Zhong'an Energy and NIO Energy will be based in Anhui, radiate to the Yangtze River Delta region, and look nationwide. Following the principle of moderate advancement, they will orderly promote the construction of 1,000 integrated battery swapping and charging stations, build an open and shared battery swapping and charging energy network, and cooperate to establish an efficient battery asset management and operation system. The two parties will also cooperate on battery asset management and operation modes based on the innovative battery swapping model, support the promotion of Battery as a Service (BaaS), create a full life cycle management system for power batteries, establish and promote unified battery and battery swapping standards, carry out cooperation related to new power systems, and jointly promote the construction and development of the battery swapping and charging system and the battery asset management system.
It is worth noting that previously (on March 20), NIO had cumulatively laid out 200 highway battery swapping stations in the Yangtze River Delta region, with battery swapping services available in 92 cities. With Zhong'an Energy promoting the construction of 1,000 integrated battery swapping and charging stations, the battery swapping network in the Yangtze River Delta region will become even denser, enhancing the charging experience in the region.
According to NIO's financial report, in 2023, NIO achieved a record high revenue of 55.618 billion yuan, but the company's net loss further expanded by 43.5% to 20.72 billion yuan.
In the whole year of 2023, NIO delivered a total of 160,038 new vehicles, an increase of 37,552 units compared to 2022, representing a year-on-year increase of 30.7%.
In terms of infrastructure construction for battery swapping and charging, in 2023, NIO built 1,035 new battery swapping stations globally, bringing the cumulative number to 2,350. In 2024, NIO stated that it will build another 1,000 battery swapping stations and add 20,000 charging piles, with the fourth-generation battery swapping station starting to be deployed.
