NIO and CATL have signed a new agreement to expand collaboration on long-life batteries and the battery swap network.
The two companies recently concluded a five-year comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement in Hefei, Anhui Province.
CATL founder, chairman, and CEO Robin Zeng, and Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li, were present to witness the signing.
The partnership will focus on cooperation across technology, ecosystem development, and market expansion, with the objective of advancing technological and business model development in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector, while supporting Hefei in developing its NEV industrial cluster, CATL stated in an announcement today.
Specifically, CATL outlined the following areas of collaboration:
– Technology: Joint development of long-life batteries and battery swap compatibility technology will be prioritised, supporting multi-technology route collaboration and implementation of new technologies.
– Ecosystem Development: Both parties will advance technical standardisation for battery swaps and share network resources. Cooperation will also extend to business models such as Battery as a Service (BaaS) to build a shared battery swap industry ecosystem.
– Market Expansion: The companies will coordinate on brand promotion domestically and internationally to strengthen market presence and influence.
CATL stated that the strategic partnership represents a further step in collaboration between the two companies.
Under the long-term cooperative framework, NIO and CATL will jointly respond to changes in the NEV sector and work on providing electric mobility solutions, CATL added.
The agreement reflects a closer relationship between the companies, at a time when NIO is reportedly increasingly reliant on CATL for battery supply.
On December 27th, CnEVPost.com and longbridge.com reported that NIO had suspended battery supply cooperation with BYD’s FinDreams Battery for its Onvo L60 midsize SUV due to insufficient orders to sustain multiple battery suppliers. The report also indicated that some 100-kWh batteries previously supplied to NIO by CALB have now been sourced from CATL.
Throughout its 11-year history, NIO relied on CATL as its sole battery supplier for several of its early years, although alternative suppliers were introduced in more recent years.
The two companies previously signed agreements in March 2024 to jointly develop long-life batteries and in March 2025 to construct a large-scale battery swap network.
Just a few days ago on 7th January 2026, NIO produced its 1-millionth mass-produced vehicle at its F2 factory in Hefei.
