CATL wins CAR Inc as a partner for its battery swapping system

Chinese battery giant CATL is making good progress with the rollout of its Evogo battery swapping system. A new partnership with China's largest car rental company, CAR Inc., is set to ensure that the system spreads even faster.

Just a few days ago, CATL announced that it had set up 400 battery swapping stations for electric cars in China so far and was aiming to reach the 1,000 mark by the end of the year. However, expanding the network of swapping stations is only one side of the coin: on the other side, it’s also crucial that the number of cars supporting the technology increases. To this end, CATL has already entered into partnerships with manufacturers such as BAIC, Changan, GAC, Hongqi, SAIC and Wuling, who are installing CATL’s Choco-SEB (Swapping Electric Blocks) system of exchangeable battery packs in some new electric car models.

Even if cars with Choco-SEB are now coming onto the market, that does not mean they will find enough buyers. That is why the new partnership with CAR (short for China Auto Rental) is of great value to CATL: CAR intends to gradually purchase 100,000 vehicles equipped with CATL’s battery swapping system. Conversely, both sides also want to partner in the expansion of the network of battery exchange stations.

The partners plan to launch a pilot programme before the end of this year. CAR intends to include vehicles from its A0 to B rental classes, which comprise economy, comfort and business models. The vehicles will be equipped with Choco-SEB 20# and 25# battery swap blocks, giving them a range of 400 to 600 kilometres.

The deal has another important component: CATL can use CAR’s more than 2,000 locations in China to set up battery swapping stations there, covering important transport hubs. The stations are to be powered primarily by green electricity from photovoltaic systems.

CAR was founded in 2007 and is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The US car rental company Hertz was once one of the major shareholders, but has since divested its stake. CAR is China’s largest directly operated car rental platform with a fleet of 160,000 vehicles, a service network covering more than 300 cities and 175 million registered users. CAR entered into a cooperation agreement with BYD in May.

cnevpost.com, zuche.com (in Chinese)