For stock trading, consult the Golden Kirin analyst research reports — authoritative, professional, timely, and comprehensive, helping you uncover potential thematic opportunities! (Source: Radar Finance) Produced by Radar Finance. Text by Ding Yu, edited by Meng Shuai. NIO, which has invested over 20 billion yuan cumulatively in its battery swapping business, has welcomed a "new in-law." On September 28, NIO announced that it had reached a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with Geely Holding Group in the field of battery charging and swapping.
According to the agreement between the two parties, Geely Holding Group will subscribe to newly issued equity in NIO Energy using its 100% equity stake in E-E互联 (E-E Interconnect) plus 640 million yuan in cash. After the transaction is completed, Geely Holding Group will hold a 30% stake in NIO Energy, E-E Interconnect's commercial vehicle battery swapping business will be merged into NIO Energy, and NIO Energy's post-investment valuation will reach approximately 16 billion yuan.
In the smart charging sector, NIO will take a stake in Haohan Energy, a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group. After the transaction is completed, NIO will hold a 10% stake in Haohan Energy, and the two parties' charging resources will be fully interconnected, jointly enhancing the coverage capacity and operational efficiency of their charging networks.
NIO founder, chairman, and CEO Li Bin stated: "Even though our two companies will have some competition, this objectively exists — healthy competition is not involution. But I think the areas for cooperation are also very broad. Everyone should not set them in opposition — saying that where there is competition, there is no cooperation is actually not a good business logic."
Geely and NIO's "Two-Way Journey," NIO Energy Valuation Reaches 16 Billion Yuan
According to an announcement disclosed by NIO on September 28, it has entered into formal agreements with certain subsidiaries of Geely Holding Group for strategic transactions in battery swapping and charging businesses. According to the agreement, one subsidiary of Geely Holding Group will subscribe to newly issued equity in NIO Energy Investment (Hubei) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "NIO Energy") using its 100% equity stake in E-E Interconnect Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "E-E Interconnect") plus 640 million yuan in cash as consideration.
It is reported that E-E Interconnect is a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group that provides battery swapping services to the commercial vehicle market, while NIO Energy is a subsidiary of NIO that operates battery swapping and charging businesses. According to the plan, after E-E Interconnect's commercial vehicle battery swapping business is merged into NIO Energy, the two parties will jointly build unified consumer-facing battery swapping technology and standards; Geely Holding Group will develop consumer-facing battery swapping vehicle models, and NIO Energy will provide services for Geely Holding Group's consumer-facing battery swapping vehicle models.
After the transaction is completed, NIO Energy's shareholding structure will change: the Geely subsidiary will hold 30%, NIO's subsidiary NIO Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as "NIO China") will continue to hold a controlling 63.6% stake, and Wuhan Guangchuang Emerging Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) will hold the remaining 6.4% equity. The transaction values NIO Energy at approximately 16 billion yuan post-investment.
It is worth noting that the equity held by the Geely subsidiary is not locked in all at once; it will be subject to post-closing adjustments linked to certain operational milestones. If the relevant operating performance falls short of expectations, the equity may be reduced to no less than 20%. The subsidiary has also been granted an option, exercisable within two years from the closing of this transaction or before the date NIO Energy enters into a binding agreement for a new round of financing (whichever is earlier), to make a further cash investment of 640 million yuan in NIO Energy. Without considering any post-closing equity adjustments, this would result in the Geely subsidiary holding 34% of NIO Energy, while NIO China's controlling stake would be 60%.
While conducting the NIO Energy transaction, NIO China has agreed to subscribe to newly issued equity in Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Haohan Energy") for a cash consideration, which will be used to purchase certain charging assets from NIO. Upon completion of the transaction, NIO China will hold 10% of Haohan Energy's total equity.
Currently, Haohan Energy, under Geely Holding Group, has deployed 2,500 charging stations with over 12,000 charging guns across 232 cities nationwide, firmly positioned in the industry's top tier. By the end of 2027, Geely plans to build over 22,000 charging stations with more than 100,000 charging guns, including over 15,000 Geely smart charging stations and over 50,000 smart charging guns, taking the lead in achieving comprehensive coverage across all county-level cities nationwide.
In addition, NIO and Geely Holding Group have formulated preliminary plans for the adoption of battery swapping technology and the provision of related services for consumer-facing vehicle models and mobility service vehicles under Geely Holding Group's affiliated entities. These plans are subject to further discussion and implementation by the relevant parties.
NIO believes that the above transactions and cooperation reflect the industry's recognition of NIO's battery swapping technology, network, and operational capabilities. Through strategic cooperation with industry participants, NIO expects to further promote the adoption of battery swapping, continuously enhance user experience, accelerate the growth of electric vehicle penetration, and further unlock the long-term value of battery swapping.
Years of Deep Cultivation in Commercial Vehicle Battery Swapping, Geely's Curved Approach to Consumer Battery Swapping
Radar Finance found that even before this transaction, Geely and NIO had already been cooperating. As early as November 2023, Geely Holding Group signed a battery swapping strategic cooperation agreement with NIO in Hangzhou. It is reported that the two parties planned to engage in comprehensive cooperation across multiple areas including battery swapping battery standards, battery swapping technology, battery swapping service network construction and operation, battery swapping vehicle model development and customization, and battery asset management and operations.
Prior to this, NIO had already become the largest electric vehicle battery swapping station operator in China, but its services were limited to users of its own brand. Geely's E-E Interconnect, meanwhile, primarily serves the commercial vehicle battery swapping market, with service vehicles covering multiple Geely-affiliated battery swapping models such as Caocao, Fengye, and Ruilan.
Tianyancha shows that E-E Interconnect's operating entity — E-E Interconnect Technology Co., Ltd. — was registered and established in April 2016. In January 2017, the company formed a team to formally conduct pre-research on battery swapping technology. E-E Interconnect relies on Geely's forward-developed GBRC battery swapping platform architecture, based on battery sharing and full vehicle lifecycle operations, committed to providing more cost-effective, efficient, and green comprehensive solutions for the commercial market.
As of April 2025, E-E Interconnect has deployed and operated over 470 battery swapping stations, covering more than 40 cities including Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Tianjin. By 2027, E-E Interconnect plans to build and operate 2,000 battery swapping stations nationwide.
However, some views suggest that the growth ceiling for the commercial vehicle battery swapping market is quite obvious. Its battery swapping demand is constrained by the scale and growth rate of the ride-hailing and taxi industries, and relying solely on Geely's own commercial vehicles makes it difficult to support the continuous expansion of the battery swapping network.
Take Caocao Mobility, an important client of E-E Interconnect and Geely's mobility platform, as an example. From 2023 to 2025, Caocao Mobility's revenue maintained growth of around 40%, with last year's revenue surpassing the 20 billion yuan mark. However, in the first half of this year, Caocao Mobility's revenue growth slowed to single digits, up 9.35% year-on-year to 10.34 billion yuan. On the profit level, Caocao Mobility has long been mired in losses. From 2021 to the first half of 2026, Caocao Mobility's cumulative net profit attributable to shareholders over five and a half years exceeded 9.1 billion yuan in losses.
Against this backdrop, the comprehensive strategic cooperation between NIO and Geely Holding Group in the battery charging and swapping sector may achieve a win-win outcome. Li Bin stated that this cooperation, through deep synergy at the technology, standards, operations, asset, and capital levels, connects the resources and capabilities both parties have accumulated over the long term in the battery charging and swapping field. In the view of Geely Holding Group CEO An Conghui, this cooperation is a pragmatic measure by both parties to practice high-quality development of China's intelligent connected new energy vehicles.
After Spending 20 Billion on Battery Swapping, Has NIO Energy Become "Lighter"?
In fact, NIO can currently be considered the absolute leader in China's private vehicle battery swapping network, and its battery swapping business has become one of its signature labels and core competitiveness. According to NIO's official website, as of September 29, the company has deployed 4,136 battery swapping stations, with cumulative battery swaps exceeding 120 million. At the same time, the company also has over 30,000 NIO charging piles and has connected to nearly 1.78 million third-party charging piles.
The comprehensive strategic cooperation between NIO and Geely in the battery charging and swapping field will also further accelerate NIO's battery swapping network construction. NIO Energy plans to build a cumulative 10,000 battery swapping stations by 2030, and it is expected that by then NIO's battery swapping network will have annual electricity demand exceeding 10 billion kWh.
Data shows that NIO's first-generation battery swapping station costs approximately 2.5 million to 3 million yuan, the second-generation approximately 2 million yuan, and the third-generation approximately 1.5 million yuan. According to NIO, as of now, the company has invested over 20 billion yuan cumulatively in battery charging and swapping technology and infrastructure. To alleviate the high upfront investment, NIO also canceled its lifetime free battery swapping service in 2023.
NIO Senior Vice President Shen Fei also previously revealed that NIO's battery swapping station break-even line is approximately 50-60 orders per day, and more car brands need to join to reduce losses.
Radar Finance learned that since opening its battery swapping system to external parties in 2023, in addition to Geely, automakers such as GAC Group, Changan Automobile, Chery Automobile, JAC Group, Lotus, and China FAW Group have successively joined the NIO battery swapping alliance.
In Li Bin's view, battery swapping is NIO's moat, and as the battery swapping station network expands and more peers join, this moat will become deeper and deeper. Li Bin also emphasized that NIO decided from the very first day of doing battery swapping that it would be 100% open to external parties. NIO's opening of battery swapping is not for cost reduction, but for long-term revenue and resource conservation.
Beyond expanding its "battery swapping circle of friends," NIO is also actively exploring more operational models. In August 2024, NIO launched the "Power Partner" program, initiating a cooperation model with local state-owned capital. In the same year, NIO Energy received 1.5 billion yuan in strategic investment from institutions including Wuhan Guangchuang Emerging Technology Phase I Venture Capital Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership).
In August this year, NIO Energy completed the asset transfer of the first batch of 36 cooperative battery charging and swapping stations with Wuhan Optics Valley Transportation Group in Wuhan. At this point, all of NIO Energy's existing battery swapping station assets in Wuhan are fully held by state-owned capital, while daily operations and maintenance, network scheduling, and other tasks remain the responsibility of NIO Energy.
NIO Energy stated that this delivery marks the successful practice of the "state-owned capital partner holds assets + NIO professional operations" model in the Hubei region, and this model is gradually being rolled out nationwide. Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center of North China University of Technology, believes that the core of this model lies in "assets off the books + operations retained." By transferring ownership of heavy assets, NIO has successfully transformed from a traditional "landlord" to a "property plus technical service provider," effectively alleviating long-term financial pressure; local state-owned capital, meanwhile, seizes the new infrastructure track of new energy infrastructure, achieving a win-win of industrial layout and asset appreciation.
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