Chinese electric automaker NIO announced Thursday an expanded partnership with battery leader CATL to initiate joint research and development efforts for longer-life electric vehicle batteries. According to the press release, the battery innovations under this partnership will aid NIO’s future electric cars and battery swap stations.
Long-standing alliance
CATL has long led the global battery manufacturing industry with its innovative products. It supplies its battery cells to major electric vehicle players across the world, including NIO.
Chinese electric automaker NIO utilizes CATL’s cells in producing battery packs for its passenger electric vehicles. In addition, CATL is also currently the exclusive battery supplier for NIO’s battery swap network.
Last month, the two Chinese companies recently formed a new “all-star” alliance with NEV giant BYD to commercialize solid-state battery technology.
Now, they launched a separate collaboration to study and produce longer-life batteries than the technology currently available on the market, which will improve NIO’s future electric vehicles and battery swap networks.
New innovation: Long-life batteries
NIO and CATL formally inked the framework agreement for their “win-win partnership” in Beijing on Thursday. As mentioned, they will jointly launch an R&D initiative for longer-life battery technologies.
NIO’s battery wap network already boasts the first battery lifecycle health OS (Operating System) in the industry, which enables the company to monitor key data such as follows:
- temperature
- intensity
- charge frequency
Through this, NIO can accumulate data on what conditions most affect the batteries lifespan. In fact, this enabled NIO to extend the lifecycle of its swappable battery technology to maintain 80% capacity even after 12 years.
On the other hand, CATL continues to explore innovative battery technologies while supplying its products to OEMs worldwide. One of these innovations is the self-repairing Solid Electrolyte Interphase film and lithium supplement, which promises to prolong batteries’ service life.
All that said, the two Chinese players will integrate their research and data to bring these technologies to mass adoption, starting with NIO’s battery swap network.
“In this cooperation, with the long-life technology for swappable batteries as a key focus, NIO and CATL will jointly carry out discussions, make technological breakthroughs and innovation, and promote product applications.”
Nio stated in the press release
How can the partnership increase EVs’ warranty and resale value?
NIO outlined that the current batteries used in New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) only have an 8-year warranty. However, anecdotal evidence revealed that modern battery chemistries can last 15 years before seeing capacity decline to under 80%.
Based on the 8-year warranty, nearly 20 million battery packs will lose coverage from 2025 to 2032, directly affecting electric vehicles’ resale value.
In response, NIO and CATL believe they can develop an innovative electric vehicle battery technology that lasts the vehicle lifecycle. In effect, EVs can retain a high resale value.
All that said, NIO and CATL can leverage their future longer-life batteries to entice more customers to shift to electric vehicles as they address the common battery degradation problem.
