As 2026 gets underway, the battery-swapping sector has attracted growing investment from a number of companies. NIO has spent five years expanding its battery-swapping network to 4,000 stations, while CATL has established nearly 1,000 stations in just six months through its “Choco-Swap” alliance. Automakers are also testing battery-swapping products and exploring the market through business models such as Battery as a Service (BaaS).

Recently, NIO officially opened its 4,000th battery-swapping station and its first fifth-generation station at the Qiaoxiang Sports Center in Quanzhou, Fujian Province. On the same day, the first batch of fifth-generation stations in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Suzhou, Hefei, Chengdu and Quanzhou began operations simultaneously. For the first time, the new-generation stations enable shared battery-swapping services for vehicles across NIO’s three brands: NIO, ONVO and firefly.

NIO founder William Li said that the company’s charging and battery-swapping network has developed significant economies of scale. As of August 17, NIO had built 9,213 charging and battery-swapping stations nationwide, including 4,022 battery-swapping stations, and had provided more than 120 million battery-swapping services in total. According to its plan, NIO will build more than 1,000 additional battery-swapping stations in 2026, bringing the total to more than 4,600 stations by the end of the year.

CATL is also stepping up its investment in battery swapping. As of June 30, its “Choco-Swap” network had established 2,000 battery-swapping stations across China, covering 180 cities in all 31 provincial-level regions. By the end of 2026, the number of Choco-Swap stations nationwide is expected to exceed 3,000, covering nearly 190 cities. During the second quarter, the network added more than 200 new stations per month on average.

BAIC New Energy has also increased its investment in battery swapping this year. Its ARCFOX Alpha S3 officially went on sale on May 22, equipped with CATL’s Choco-Swap solution. The fastest battery swap takes only 99 seconds, while the battery rental price for the battery-swapping version starts at just RMB 59,800.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi has also quietly begun exploring the battery-swapping sector. According to corporate registration changes, Hanxing Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Xiaomi Group, has acquired a 23.08% stake in Zhejiang Xinglixing New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. The company’s business scope includes B2B businesses such as the sales of battery-swapping facilities and power batteries. Although Xiaomi Auto has repeatedly stated that it will not build its own battery-swapping stations, the investment has been interpreted by industry insiders as a strategic move to position itself in the fields of battery-swapping equipment manufacturing and battery asset management.

From automakers to battery giants, and from proprietary operations to open alliances, the battery-swapping sector is developing into a multi-layered and multi-player competitive landscape.

Source: Huanqiu.com (Global Times Online)

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