Nio and CATL Forge Five-Year Strategic Agreement on Long-Life Batteries

Nio and CATL have signed a five-year comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement to deepen their work on long-life batteries and further expand the battery swap network. The pact was formalized in Hefei, Anhui province, with CATL founder and CEO Robin Zeng and Nio founder and CEO William Li both present.

Within the new framework, the two partners will push ahead with joint R&D in long-life battery technologies and battery swap compatibility. Their technical collaboration will explore multiple technology pathways and seek to accelerate the commercialization of new innovations. At the same time, both companies will cooperate on standardizing battery swap protocols, sharing network resources, and fostering an open, shared ecosystem for Battery as a Service (BaaS) and related business models.

The agreement also includes coordinated market expansion efforts, with plans for joint branding and promotional campaigns in China and overseas. By combining their respective strengths, Nio and CATL aim to boost their global market presence and secure a larger share of the expanding new energy vehicle industry. The partnership further supports Hefei’s goal of becoming a world-class NEV industrial hub.

This reinforced collaboration comes as Nio continues to source the majority of its batteries from CATL. In late December, local media reported that Nio had paused battery supply cooperation with another vendor for its Onvo L60 model due to insufficient order volume, and that some 100-kWh battery modules previously supplied by a third party have been shifted to CATL.

Nio and CATL share a long-standing relationship. The automaker relied exclusively on CATL batteries in its early years before diversifying its supply chain. More recently, the two companies agreed to collaborate on long-life battery development in March 2024, and in March 2025 launched a joint initiative to build what is projected to become the world’s largest battery swap network.

Earlier today, Nio marked the production of its one-millionth vehicle at its F2 plant in Hefei, highlighting both its rapid growth trajectory and the critical need for reliable, scalable battery solutions.