A CATL Choco battery swap station. The network had 2,520 stations across 200 Chinese cities as of September 29, 2026. Credit: CATL
- The partnership will focus on vehicles using Huawei Qiankun solutions, aiming to deliver seamless energy replenishment for the autonomous driving era.
- CATL has built 2,520 battery swap stations across 200 Chinese cities, with a long-term goal of expanding the network to 30,000 stations.
Huawei’s intelligent automotive business unit, Yinwang, or Newcool, has partnered with CATL (HKEX: 3750) on battery swapping, joining the battery maker’s Choco ecosystem to further connect smart driving with energy replenishment services.
Newcool, CATL and Contemporary Amperex Energy Service Technology (CAES) have signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement to jointly develop a smart battery swap ecosystem, according to a statement released by CATL on Monday. CAES operates CATL’s battery swap business.
The partnership will focus on vehicles using Huawei Qiankun intelligent automotive solutions, making them compatible with the Choco network and strengthening cooperation on swappable batteries and station networks.
The 3 parties plan to integrate data and services across vehicles, swap stations and the cloud, using real-time battery status and users’ travel patterns to anticipate energy needs and proactively schedule battery swaps.
Under the proposed system, vehicles would independently determine when they need energy, locate and enter a station, align themselves for a fully automated 99-second battery swap, and drive away afterward.
The partnership aims to extend assisted driving capabilities to battery swapping, creating a “seamless energy replenishment experience” for the autonomous driving era. However, the announcement did not identify specific vehicle models, a service launch date or initial coverage areas.
This is similar to functionality Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) already offers at some battery swap stations, where vehicles can automatically enter a station and complete a battery swap while using navigation-assisted driving.
CATL chairman and CEO Robin Zeng, Huawei senior vice president and Newcool CEO Jin Yuzhi, and Yang Jun, co-president of CATL’s marketing system, attended and witnessed the signing.
Newcool, CATL and CAES sign a strategic cooperation framework agreement on October 19, 2026, to integrate Huawei Qiankun smart driving with CATL’s Choco battery swap network. Credit: CATL
For CATL, Newcool’s participation provides a new avenue to expand vehicle partnerships for the Choco network as its station footprint extends from cities to highways.
As of September 29, CATL had built 2,520 battery swap stations across 200 Chinese cities, according to the statement. Its long-term goal is to expand the network to 30,000 stations.
Previously announced plans also call for building 1,000 highway battery swap stations in 2026 and 2027, creating a nationwide network spanning 11 north-south and 9 east-west highway corridors.
Newcool grew out of Huawei’s intelligent automotive solution business Unit, known as the car BU. It was formally established as a separate company in January 2024, initially wholly owned by Huawei.
Huawei currently holds an 80% stake in Newcool, while Seres (HKEX: 9927) and Avatr, the EV unit of Changan Automobile (SZSE: 000625), each hold 10%.
In April this year, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp (JAC) announced plans to invest in Newcool without disclosing the proposed investment amount. Completion of the transaction has yet to be announced.
Aiva is discussing a battery swap solution with CATL, with its first production model, the ME7, set to debut by the end of 2026.
