Geely is buying NIO’s battery swapping network. NIO announced definitive agreements on Sunday giving a subsidiary of Geely Holding 30% of NIO Power, the unit that manages its swapping stations and chargers, at a post-money valuation of about RMB 16 billion ($2.4 billion).
Most of what Geely pays is not in cash. It is putting in its own commercial battery-swapping business plus RMB640 million ($94 million), while NIO acquires 10% of Geely’s charging arm in a side deal.
the terms
Here’s how the NIO Power side breaks down, according to NIO’s announcement:
- The Geely subsidiary contributes 100% of Yiyi Internet Technology (Chongqing), a commercial battery exchange operator, in addition to RMB 640 million in cash.
- Following the closing, NIO China will own 63.6% of NIO Power, Geely 30% and Wuhan Guangchuang venture fund 6.4%.
- Geely’s stake can be adjusted after closing based on operational milestones, up to a minimum of 20% if things don’t go well.
- Geely also has the option to invest another RMB 640 million within two years, or sooner if NIO Power secures new financing. That would take it to 34% and reduce NIO’s stake to 60%.
According to the valuation of the deal, a 30% stake is worth around RMB 4.8 billion. If the cash is withdrawn, NIO effectively values Yiyi at just over RMB 4.1 billion ($610 million). That’s what the milestone clause is for. If Yiyi’s business doesn’t work out, Geely will end up with less NIO Power.
The second leg runs in the opposite direction. NIO China is subscribing to newly issued shares of Zhejiang Haohan Energy Technology, Geely’s charging business, for a 10% stake. Haohan will then use that cash to buy some of NIO’s charging assets. NIO did not disclose the amount, but in practice it is exchanging part of its charging network for Geely shares.
Both transactions still need regulatory approval.
NIO finally gets an exchange partner with real money on the table
NIO has been offering its trade-in network to other automakers for years. In 2021, it announced plans to open its battery swapping stations to other automakers, and at the time we asked if anyone would be interested. Geely signed a strategic sharing partnership with NIO in November 2023, promising joint standards for private and commercial vehicles. But that was a handshake. This one comes with assets and cash.
The network is big. NIO had 3,790 trading stations when it surpassed 100 million trading in February, and is targeting 1,000 more this year. It also set a record of 175,976 swaps in a single day earlier this year. The swap is also what makes possible NIO’s battery-as-a-service pricing, which it used to make the ES9 flagship SUV cost $54,000.
But it’s expensive to build, and NIO has spent a lot of time looking for someone to help transport it. NIO Power’s first external money came in May 2024: RMB 1.5 billion led by the same Wuhan Guangchuang fund that will own 6.4% after this deal. Then in March 2025, NIO said CATL was “advancing a limited investment of RMB 2.5 billion” in NIO Power. CATL is not in the ownership table that NIO published today.
The valuation hasn’t moved much either. Wuhan’s 6.4% fund is roughly equivalent to 9.1% before Geely enters. If nothing else changes in the cap table, that puts NIO Power at about RMB 16 billion in 2024, when the grid had far fewer stations than it does now.
However, NIO is not selling from a desperate position. It delivered 107,658 vehicles in the second quarter of 2026, posting a vehicle margin of 18.5% and making a small non-GAAP profit, according to its latest earnings. It still lost RMB528m on a GAAP basis and had RMB56.7bn in cash at the end of June.
What’s in it for Geely?
Geely Holding is the parent of Geely Auto, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Volvo Cars and Polestar. Yiyi, the business that NIO Power is incorporating, focuses on fleet trading rather than private cars.
According to NIO, the two companies have “preliminary plans” to bring battery swapping to consumer models of Geely-related entities, as well as their commercial mobility businesses. Those plans have yet to be finalized.
That’s the part that matters. China’s swap market is dividing into two camps: NIO’s network, CATL’s Choco-Swap network and BYD, which are betting on ultra-fast charging. A Geely brand shipping NIO-compatible packages in volume would make NIO’s network the default for a large portion of the market.
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