NIO sells 30% of battery swap unit to Geely at more than $2 billion — SkimNews
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- Geely Holding subsidiary is acquiring 30% of NIO Power at a ~RMB16 billion ($2.4B) post-money valuation, contributing 100% of its commercial swap operator Yiyi Internet Technology (Chongqing) plus RMB640 million ($94M) cash rather than a straight check
- NIO China retains 63.6% of NIO Power post-closing while Wuhan Guangchuang holds 6.4%; Geely's stake has a 20% floor if Yiyi's operational milestones underdeliver, and can rise to 34% via a two-year RMB640M follow-on option
- In a parallel leg, NIO China is subscribing to newly issued shares of Geely's charging arm Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology for a 10% stake, with Haohan using that cash to buy some of NIO's charging assets
- NIO Power had 3,790 swap stations when it passed 100 million cumulative swaps in February and ran a record 175,976 swaps in a single day earlier this year; the network underpins NIO's Battery-as-a-Service pricing that brought the ES9 SUV in at ~$54K
- CATL is conspicuously absent from the post-deal ownership table despite NIO's March 2025 disclosure that CATL was "advancing an investment capped at RMB2.5 billion" in NIO Power
- NIO's network is positioned to become the de facto standard for a major slice of China's passenger EV market if Geely brands — Geely Auto, Zeekr, Lynk & Co — ship NIO-compatible packs, per the source's framing
- China's swap market is splitting into three camps: NIO's growing network, CATL's Choco-Swap buildout, and BYD's ultra-fast charging bet — making Geely's alignment a strategic fork for the industry
Why it matters: Geely just turned NIO's years-long 'open our swap network to other automakers' pitch into a deal with assets and $94M cash behind it. If Geely brands ship NIO-compatible packs at volume, NIO's network becomes the default for a huge chunk of China's passenger market — and CATL's parallel Choco-Swap buildout loses a potential anchor customer. NIO isn't desperate (Q2 2026 delivered 107,658 vehicles and a small non-GAAP profit), but it has been looking for a real partner since 2021.
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