Nio and CATL join forces to develop batteries with longer lifespans

Nio and CATL have today signed a framework agreement concerning cooperation with regards to innovation in the R&D of longer-lifespan EV batteries, which will be compatible with Nio's battery swapping technology.

The agreement was signed by Shizhe Tzeng, Nio's Vice President, and Huan Gao, the CTO of CATL's China E-Car Business Unit. Also present at the signing ceremony were Alan Zeng, Nio's Senior Vice President, and Wei Zhu, Executive President of CATL's Passenger Car Business unit.

The idea that Nio and CATL have committed to work towards is quite simple, really: make EV batteries have longer lifespans than they do now. So far Nio has managed to retain 80% capacity after 12 years of use, but even that is not 'long-life' enough in its view, and this partnership with CATL aims to bring about batteries that can go even longer without any negative capacity impacts.

The two companies note that, in China, EV batteries generally have an eight-year warranty, which means that from 2025 to 2032, these will run out for nearly 20 million EVs. It's unclear how that's connected exactly, but suffice it to say that if the lifespan of the batteries was longer, the warranty would be too.

Nio and CATL say they will "jointly carry out discussions, make technological breakthroughs and innovation, and promote product applications". CATL will also "plan and develop battery systems of longer service lives for Nio's upcoming models".

The official press release says:

The two companies aim to establish a long-term and win-win partnership via the technological cooperation in long-life batteries, with which Nio and CATL are about to accelerate the development and adoption of such technologies, so that more EV users can enjoy battery swap services of higher quality without concerning about the high replacement costs of unwarranted batteries or reduced vehicle residual value due to battery attenuation.