When a car manufacturer has its own charging network, which is also reliable and dense, this obviously becomes a strong commercial argument.

Currently, only Tesla can boast of the presence of such a charging network, and if the investment in these terminals at the beginning could be compared to a real financial pit, then the opening of these terminals for vehicles of other brands will gradually change the trend.

Partnership reserved for China (for now)

And among Chinese manufacturers, the Tesla model is also pleasing. Indeed, manufacturers Nio and Geely have signed a partnership that will inspire mutual use of appropriate charging networks. In particular, the agreement was signed between Nio Power, a division dealing with the network of chargers, and Geely Automobile Holdings. So far, the agreement concerns only the Chinese market, but a possible expansion to the rest of the world is not excluded in the near future.
In practice, Geely brand cars (namely Lynk & Co, Volvo, Zeekr, Polestar or even smart) will be able to use Nio charging stations, which will be displayed in the respective applications. Owners of models of these brands will be able to see real-time location, price, availability and other information and will be able to charge their car. Geely charging stations will now be able to accept Nio brand models.

Battery replacement, tomorrow’s charging solution?

To date, Nio has 2,186 charging stations in China, in addition to 2,391 battery replacement stations, which allows you to replace an empty battery with a full battery in less than five minutes. As for the battery replacement system, Geely models are not designed for this, so it will clearly not work. But that may change soon. Indeed, on November 19 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Nio and Geely signed a strategic cooperation agreement on battery exchange.
On this occasion, Nio said that the two sides will jointly promote the development of standards for replaceable batteries, the establishment and sharing of battery replacement networks, the development of vehicles compatible with battery replacement, and the establishment of an “effective active battery management mechanism”. Let’s see if this cooperation will bear fruit on the European market as well.

At the moment, Nio is just starting to gain a foothold in the Old Continent and is also starting to build those famous battery exchange stations.