Gasgoo Munich-On Nov. 5 at the 2026 World Internet Conference' s Wuzhen Salon·Auto Evening, Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu shared the stage with NIO founder and CEO William Li. Li Shufu declared that "Geely fully endorses the battery-swapping model." He argued that power batteries inevitably degrade and fail, while "a car's life cycle extends well beyond seven or eight years."
Image credit: Geely Auto Group
Buying a brand-new battery pack is prohibitively expensive, he noted, and dismantling or refurbishing a degraded one is not cheap either. This makes battery swapping the logical fix. He predicted that because EV adoption in China is still relatively recent, the problem has not fully surfaced. Yet as the fleet ages, the mismatch will inevitably emerge. Swapping is what will allow a car to run for 20 years while keeping a viable battery.
Under a 2015 policy from four government departments, new-energy passenger-vehicle makers must warranty batteries for at least eight years or 120,000 km. The earliest batches are now aging out of coverage. A recommended national standard (GB/T 46991.1-2025) took effect July 1. It adds that after eight years or 160,000 km, light passenger vehicles must retain at least 75% of their available battery capacity.
On the rollout front, Geely Holding took a 30% stake in NIO Energy on Sept. 28, contributing the entire equity of its YiYi Power unit plus 640 million yuan in cash. The two companies will now share battery-swapping technology and standards.
