CATL, Aiways team up on EVOGO battery swapping project

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese EV startup Aiways and the power battery titan CATL recently inked a framework agreement for the cooperation on the EVOGO battery swapping project, according to a statement AIWAYS posted on its WeChat account on Wednesday.

AIWAYS U5; photo credit: AIWAYS

Under the agreement, both parties will jointly develop a battery swappable model based on Aiways's U5 BEV, and plan to put the product onto the market in the fourth quarter of 2022. Users who adopt the battery swappable model will enjoy the services under CATL's EVOGO battery swapping brand, such as the separating consumption of vehicles and batteries and on-demand battery swaps.

The cooperative project will be managed by CATL's wholly-owned subsidiary, Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd. (CAES).

Prior to the latest move, CATL and Aiways had teamed up on projects related to technologies, strategies and capital businesses. According to the business data inquiry platform Tianyancha, CATL's wholly-owned subsidiary, Ningbo Meishan Bonded Port Area Wending Investment Co., Ltd., is among Aiways' shareholders.

The new partnership marks another positive effort for Aiways to strengthen technical reserves in battery swapping field. Besides, the startup's overseas deployment of battery swapping business is already in works, according to Zhang Yang, CEO of Aiways.

In the future, the duo will jointly push ahead with the implementation of such projects as the development of battery swappable vehicle models, battery holders and standard battery packs, the circulation of standard swappable battery packs, the management of vehicle and battery-related data, as well as the trial operation and quality guarantee of standard swappable battery packs.