The producer of MG automobiles SAIC signed a strategic cooperation settlement with the world’s greatest battery maker CATL within the battery swap discipline. Sooner or later, SAIC will make EVs suitable with the CATL’s Choco-SEB swap stations. This settlement marks SAIC’s complete abandonment of its battery swap community.
On January 10, CATL chairman Robin Zeng and SAIC chairman Wang Xiaoqiu signed a cooperation settlement at CATL’s headquarters in Ningde metropolis, Fijian province. Two events will group up within the discipline of battery swap know-how. SAIC will maintain the event and gross sales of electrical automobiles with swappable batteries. And the CATL can be accountable for the event of standardized swappable batteries.
In 2022, SAIC launched its battery swap stations community, aiming to compete with Nio. These battery swap stations had been devoted to the Rising-branded electrical automobiles. Nevertheless, Rising Auto’s cumulative gross sales quantity from July 2021 to November 2024 is 67,146 models. On account of sluggish gross sales, Rising poorly developed its battery swap community. The corporate operated solely 26 battery swap stations in 2024. The preliminary objective was to have a minimum of 300 stations in 2023 and three,000 stations in 2025. It appears like SAIC deserted the event strategy of the battery swap community and joined the CATL’s battery swap alliance.
CATL began growing its battery swap community in 2022, launching the primary technology of Choco-SEV (swapping Electrical Blocks) batteries. In late 2024, the world’s greatest battery maker launched the second-generation Choco-SEB. They arrive in 20# and 25# packs. They’ve a capability of 42 – 70 kWh, appropriate for as much as 600 km vary.
CATL will construct its battery swap stations in China. They are going to retailer as much as 30 battery compartments. It can take 100 seconds to vary an empty battery for a full one. The each day capability is 822 swaps, in comparison with 480 swaps per day of Nio’s 4-gen PSS (Energy Swap Station). The price of utilizing a Choco-SEB battery swap subscription can be 0.1 yuan/km (0.014 USD), based on CATL. The corporate will construct 1,000 swap stations in 2025, with a goal of 30,000 within the last stage.
Beforehand, GM’s Chinese language three way partnership with SAIC additionally joined the CATL’s battery swap alliance. Different corporations that joined cooperation with CATL are Changan, GAC, BAIC, and FAW. The world’s greatest battery maker disclosed the checklist of 10 fashions that can be suitable with Choco-SEB. There are 4 SAIC automobiles: Roewe D7, Rising F7, Maxus Mifa 9, and Maxus Dana.
