Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Nio Power (EV maker Nio’s power unit), which runs over 3,000 battery-swapping stations in China, Reuters reports.

Only last month, CATL and Nio signed a strategic partnership with the goal of building the world’s largest battery swapping network. As part of the deal, CATL will invest a maximum of RMB2.5 billion (RM1.5 billion) in Nio Power.

Although Reuters‘ sources did not say how much CATL was offering under the proposed deal, one said Nio Power had been valued at more than RMB10 billion (RM6.1 billion) during a 2024 fundraising round. When contacted by the news agency, CATL declined to comment, but Nio said it was promoting joint construction of battery swapping stations “with multiple investors, including CATL”.

“Nio and CATL will deepen collaboration on capital and business and further consolidate the strategic partnership to jointly build the largest battery swapping network globally,” Nio responded in writing to Reuters‘ request for comment.

CATL is going hard into battery swapping as it attempts to diversify beyond battery making – it recently announced a partnership with Sinopec to build 10,000 battery-swapping stations, at least 500 of which will be built this year. CATL says this trend will replace a third of petrol stations in China.

Meanwhile, Nio Power provides charging and battery swapping services to Nio drivers and other EV brands, Tesla and BYD included. The unit’s 3,240-odd battery-swapping stations, mostly located in China, can swap a depleted battery pack with a fully-charged one in under three minutes.

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