12 hours Ago By Jiri Opletal
Firefly is not part of CATL’s battery swap syndicate. There is a room for cooperation, Nio CEO says On Sunday, following the Nio Day and Firefly launch, Nio’s CEO William Li said during a talk with the media, “There are more possibilities for cooperation with CATL in battery swap standardization,” without providing further details. Nio is a clear leader in the battery swap market in China.
Last Friday, 90,877 Nio users swapped their batteries in one of the 2,900 Power Swap Stations (PSS) across the Middle Kingdom. In early December, Nio reached 60 million battery swap milestone. On December 18, CATL confidently pushed into the battery swap market, presenting its strategy to standardize battery swapping.
The battery hegemon unveiled Choco-SEB (Swapping Electric Block) battery packs and plans to build 1,000 swap stations in 2025 and 10,000 swap stations in the mid-term, with the final target of 30,000 swap stations across China. CATL didn’t come empty-handed to the Choco-SEB presentation and unveiled 6 brands that already cooperate with CATL’s standard, including heavyweights such as SGMW, Changan, FAW, GAC, and BAIC. Ten models from those brands will start mass production between 2025-2026 and provide Choco-SEB support, including Wuling Bingo or GAC Aion S.
Firefly launched three days later on December 21, and despite some previous speculation, the brand’s first EV is not part of the CATL’s battery swap syndicate. Firefly is neither part of Nio’s original battery swap network as its batteries are smaller than Nio and Onvo’s and will need a separate network of swap stations. In March, Nio partnered with CATL to jointly develop long-life batteries tailored to their battery swap needs, leveraging advanced technologies like self-repairing Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) film to extend battery life.
This collaboration aims to reduce battery replacement costs, enhance vehicle residual value, and expand battery swap services for EV users, according to Nio. However, this deal didn’t mention cooperation regarding CATL’s standardization plans or Choco-SEB. Editor’s comment We can only speculate why Firefly is not part of CATL’s battery swap syndicate.
It would make perfect sense, as Nio hasn’t started building the new brand’s battery swap network yet. Daniel Jin, Firefly CEO, said they would build it “per user needs.” It took Nio seven years to reach the 2,900 swap stations coverage in China, and it would make sense to join with another strong partner when building a separate network for the new brand.
The reasons might be different perspectives on what the battery swap standard should look like, disagreement on a leadership role as Nio has its own battery swap alliance, or simply a fact that CATL’s battery swap syndicate is currently focused on China while Firefly is a global EV and, as a small hatchback, doesn’t expect much sales in China but relies on overseas markets , such as Europe. We will keep an eye on that..
