Nio-Sinopec Partnership Launches With Power Swap Station 2.0: What EV Investors Need To Know

NIO Inc. NIO held to its mid-April schedule for announcing a strategic partnership agreement with Chinese oil giant Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited SHI.

Rumors of a potential partnership began circulating after Sinopec's Chairman Zhang Yuzhuo visited one of Nio's battery swap stations during the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February.

A ‘Win-Win' Tie-Up: Nio and Sinopec jointly unveiled Nio's Power Swap Station 2.0 at the latter's Chaoying gas filling station in Beijing.

The partnership will foster the Chinese smart EV industry and help hit permissible carbon emissions norms and achieve carbon neutrality, according to the companies. 

See also: How to Buy Nio Stock

Sinopec is an integrated oil company, the biggest in China, with both upstream and downstream operations. It also has the distinction of being the largest refinery in the world, and has the second-highest number of gas stations in the world.

For Sinopec, the partnership signals a move toward transforming into an integrated energy service provider, with an increased focus on developing new dimensions such as battery swapping and high-power, fast DC charging.

The two companies also agreed to cooperate in areas such as new materials, smart EV tech, battery-as-a-service, vehicle purchasing and recreational facility constructions.

Related Link: Can Nio Stock Go From $40 to $400 In 18 Months?

The collaboration, according to Nio's founder, chairman and CEO William Li, will efficiently consolidate the resources of both companies to bring a better charging and swapping experience to EV users.

"Sinopec's determination to invest in green energy service will encourage more people to adopt new energy vehicles," he said.

Power Swap Station 2.0 Reveal: Nio's Power Swap Station 2.0 at Sinopec's Chaoying station is Nio's first second-gen battery swap station. The company first announced the second-gen power swap station at the Nio Day event in early January.

Version 2.0 is promoted as a smart system facilitated by cloud computing. Nio claimed that it is the world's first mass-produced battery swap station that allows vehicles to maneuver to the station automatically.

Each Power Swap Station 2.0 is powered by 239 sensors and four cloud computing systems that will help users complete a self-service battery swap with only one click while staying in the car.

Swapping efficiency is also increased with the newest version, as it is capable of completing up to 312 battery swaps per day.

What's Next: Sinopec said it plans to deploy 5,000 battery charging and swapping stations at its outlets over the next few years.

NIO Price Action: In premarket trading Thursday, Nio shares were rising 1.35% to $37.52. 

Related Link: XPeng Unveils The P5, A LiDAR-Equipped New Sedan Model With Advanced Features And Tech

Photo courtesy of Nio.