Chinese battery swapping service provider Aulton nabs 1.5 billion yuan in Series B funding

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Aulton, a Chinese leading battery swapping station provider, announced on Sept. 29 it banked 1.5 billion yuan ($232 million) in the Series B financing.

The new funding round was led by Enze Fund, a flagship platform initiated and established by Sinopec Capital, and a special fund co-built by the government-backed funds, namely, Guangzhou Finance Holdings and Guangzhou GET Investment Holdings. It also attracted such investors as GuangDong Merchant Venture Capital Limited, CY Capital, and KIP (China).

Upon completion of the Series B round, Aulton has bagged a total of 3.5 billion yuan ($541.126 million). NIO Capital and BAIC BJEV are also among its investors.

Aulton battery swapping station in Shanghai; photo credit: Aulton

Aulton said it has already obtained nearly 3,000 globally patented technologies, such as 20-second battery swapping and optical fiber-enable temperature measurement.

The company has jointly developed more than 20 battery swappable models with a number of mainstream automakers, including BAIC Group, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, Changan Automobile, SAIC Motor, and GAC Group. Encompassing both passenger vehicles (PVs) and commercial vehicles (CVs), the co-developed models are all compatible with Aulton's battery swapping network.

Additionally, Aulton has deployed its battery swapping network in nearly 30 cities across China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changchun, Wuhan, Chongqing, Kunming, and Sanya. Roughly 50,000 users have made registrations on Aulton's battery swapping platform and enjoyed Aulton’s services.

Aulton said its business models are highly in line with China’s strategy for peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. The energy storage and green energy applications based on its battery swapping business have generated many innovative business models to power grid adjustment and cascade utilization of batteries.