CATL, China’s largest battery producer for electric vehicles, has become the first EV battery maker to provide domestic battery swap services.
The first batch of four battery swap stations went into operation in the east China port city of Xiamen this week, CATL said.
The battery giant expects to add another 27 such facilities in the city by the end of 2022, allowing customers to find one station within a radius of 3 kilometers.
It will expand battery swap services to other China cities, CATL said, without elaborating on the plan.
Several Chinese companies such as EV startup Nio and private carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group have also rolled out battery swap services for customers.
According to statistics from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, a Beijing-based trade group, the number of operational battery swap stations across China reached 1,451 in March, a jump of 138 percent from a year earlier.