TapTechNews learned from the official WeChat public account of CATL on May 16 that on May 16, GAC Aion, CATL, and TimeEV signed a framework agreement for the battery swapping project. According to the agreement, the three parties will fully leverage GAC Aion's mainstream market and brand advantages, CATL's leading power battery technology and industrial resource advantages, and TimeEV's equipment development, operation management, and software platform development advantages in the field of new energy vehicle battery swapping to deepen cooperation in areas such as battery swapping model development, battery swapping block development, production and distribution, vehicle and battery data management, vehicle quality assurance, and after-sales service, jointly promoting the sales of GAC Aion's battery swapping models and bringing users a more efficient and convenient battery swapping experience. Aion brand has 7084 DC supercharging piles (according to the latest statistics from the China Charging Alliance in 2023) and has built 1300 1000V high-voltage supercharging stations to date. With the signing of this agreement, CATL's chocolate battery swapping circle of friends also expanded again. Since entering the battery swapping market in 2020, CATL has launched the chocolate battery swapping block and battery swapping service solutions, actively promoting the construction of the battery swapping ecosystem. On the one hand, it has conducted comprehensive cooperation in the field of new energy vehicle battery swapping with local governments in Xiamen, Shenzhen, and other places; on the other hand, it has actively cooperated with partners in the battery swapping industry chain such as car companies, travel platforms, and state-owned energy companies to build battery swapping networks for different travel scenarios and conduct research and development on long-life battery technology. TapTechNews noted that on March 22 this year, GAC Group announced the establishment of GAC Energy Ecological Technology Co., Ltd., with an investment of 4.96 billion yuan to enter the battery swapping and energy storage track. Not only GAC, but currently, state-owned enterprises such as BAIC, Changan, Dongfeng, SAIC, Jiangling, as well as new car-making forces such as NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto have all started the battery swapping model. GAC Group has rapidly made breakthroughs in battery swapping services. Some models of GAC Aion and Haoba GT and Haoba HT have launched battery swapping versions, and the Haoba Super Charging and Battery Swapping Center achieves seamless disassembly/installation/transportation connection through optimized swapping sequences, completing ultra-fast battery swapping in 90 seconds. According to GAC's plan, it will further expand its layout in the field of battery swapping services in the future. GAC will build 10,000 1000V high-voltage platform supercharging terminals within the year and strive to exceed 1 million private charging users.
