Huawei's smart car unit, known as "Yinwang," has signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with CATL, the world's largest battery manufacturer, and its subsidiary specializing in battery swapping, "CAES." This partnership aims to integrate vehicles that rely on Huawei's "Qiankun" intelligent driving systems with the "Choco-swap" battery swapping network.
Partnership Details and Automation Goals
The agreement covers swappable battery packs and service station infrastructure architecture. The partnership seeks to focus heavily on full automation, with CATL linking the vehicle, the station, and the digital cloud. This allows the vehicle to determine its energy needs based on battery status and driver behavior, then automatically navigate to the nearest station and park itself precisely to complete the swapping process, which takes approximately 99 seconds according to announced data.
Expansion of the Swapping Station Network
The "Choco-swap" network is witnessing rapid growth; the number of its stations reached 2,520, spread across approximately 200 Chinese cities as of the end of last September. The construction rate exceeds 200 new stations per month, with plans to reach more than 3,000 stations by the end of the year and 30,000 stations in the long term. The list of partners in the network includes other automakers such as GAC, BAIC, and NIO.
What Changes Practically?
This move comes at a time when the agreement is still in the framework stage, with a lack of precise details regarding specific vehicle models, commercial launch dates, or actual service areas. However, the entry of a company of Huawei's size, with its software weight and intelligent driving systems, supported by CATL's dominance of a large share of the global electric vehicle battery market, represents an important milestone that could give battery swapping technology a strong push for commercial use, autonomous vehicle fleets, and robotaxis, despite the ongoing challenges related to standardized benchmarks and the adoption of home and public fast charging.