CATL, partners push large-scale battery swapping into China's car rental market

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- CATL has joined forces with Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology Ltd. ("CAES"), CAR Inc., and CMB Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. ("CMB Leasing") to introduce large-scale battery swapping into China's rental car market.

According to a post on CATL's WeChat account, the four companies on August 1 signed a strategic agreement in Ningde to integrate energy replenishment, asset operations, financing, and mobility services, aiming to create a sustainable full-chain ecosystem for the mobility sector.

Photo credit: CATL

CAR Inc. will deploy CATL's "Choco-Swap" battery-swappable vehicles across its fleet, spanning economy, comfort, and business segments to serve the mainstream A0 to B-segment market. A pilot program will begin this year, with plans to operate over 100,000 battery-swap-capable vehicles in phases.

The vehicles will be equipped with CATL's standardized 20# and 25# battery blocks, offering ranges of 400–600 km and enabling flexible energy replenishment for short- and long-term rentals, corporate fleets, and ride-hailing services.

For the ride-hailing segment, CAR Inc. will purchase Choco-Swap vehicles in volume, focusing on Tier-1 and emerging Tier-1 cities. CAES will build a battery health monitoring platform to ensure safety and stable range performance in real time.

Infrastructure will leverage CAR Inc.'s 2,000+ locations and parking resources nationwide to establish a swapping network across key transport hubs, enabling customers to return a car and swap the battery in one seamless step. Stations will prioritize solar power and contribute to grid peak shaving and frequency regulation. The CAR Inc. app will integrate battery-swap navigation and payment for a full-cycle "rent–swap–return" experience.

To cut costs and boost efficiency, CMB Leasing and CAES will provide competitive battery leasing solutions for CAR Inc."s self-operated fleet. The four parties will also form a task force to work with automakers on procurement, insurance, and used car management, optimizing lifecycle costs and enhancing user experience.